Vase
1890-1910 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This tall vase is decorated with coloured cloisonné enamels and depicts a high-class Kyoto courtesan (Japanese: tayū) out walking with her attendant. She wears a luxuriously decorated kimono with the sash (obi) tied at the front and extremely high-platform koma-geta on her feet. Her hairstyle and hair-ornaments are extremely elaborate.
The mirror-black enamel ground of the vase is typical of the work of Namikawa Yasuyuki, the renowned Kyoto maker of cloisonné enamels; so too is the fine geometrical cloisonné decoration on the neck and foot of the vase. The vase has a silver plaque applied to the base which bears the two-character engraved inscription ‘Kyoto Shibata’ in precisely the same style as the plaques used by Namikawa Yasuyuki, who signed 'Kyoto Namikawa'. We know almost nothing of Shibata, not even his given name, but it has been suggested that he may have been in some way involved with Yasuyuki’s Kyoto workshop and possibly even working directly for him.
The mirror-black enamel ground of the vase is typical of the work of Namikawa Yasuyuki, the renowned Kyoto maker of cloisonné enamels; so too is the fine geometrical cloisonné decoration on the neck and foot of the vase. The vase has a silver plaque applied to the base which bears the two-character engraved inscription ‘Kyoto Shibata’ in precisely the same style as the plaques used by Namikawa Yasuyuki, who signed 'Kyoto Namikawa'. We know almost nothing of Shibata, not even his given name, but it has been suggested that he may have been in some way involved with Yasuyuki’s Kyoto workshop and possibly even working directly for him.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Copper body with cloisonné enamel decoration |
| Brief description | Cloisonné enamel vase with a scene of a tayū (courtesan) with an attendant; signed Shibata of Kyoto |
| Physical description | Vase with cloisonné decoration of a tayū (courtesan) and attendant. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Kyoto Shibata
|
| Credit line | Margary Gift |
| Summary | This tall vase is decorated with coloured cloisonné enamels and depicts a high-class Kyoto courtesan (Japanese: tayū) out walking with her attendant. She wears a luxuriously decorated kimono with the sash (obi) tied at the front and extremely high-platform koma-geta on her feet. Her hairstyle and hair-ornaments are extremely elaborate. The mirror-black enamel ground of the vase is typical of the work of Namikawa Yasuyuki, the renowned Kyoto maker of cloisonné enamels; so too is the fine geometrical cloisonné decoration on the neck and foot of the vase. The vase has a silver plaque applied to the base which bears the two-character engraved inscription ‘Kyoto Shibata’ in precisely the same style as the plaques used by Namikawa Yasuyuki, who signed 'Kyoto Namikawa'. We know almost nothing of Shibata, not even his given name, but it has been suggested that he may have been in some way involved with Yasuyuki’s Kyoto workshop and possibly even working directly for him. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.68-1969 |
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| Record created | February 28, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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