Masters of Enamel: The Collection of John and Muriel Okladek | Including Further Japanese Works of Art from the Meiji Period, 1868-1912

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 7. A cloisonné enamel vase with dragon and tiger | Signed on a silver tablet Kyoto Namikawa (workshop of Namikawa Yasuyuki, 1845-1927), but attributed to Shibata | Meiji period, late 19th century.

Property from the John and Muriel Okladek Collection

A cloisonné enamel vase with dragon and tiger | Signed on a silver tablet Kyoto Namikawa (workshop of Namikawa Yasuyuki, 1845-1927), but attributed to Shibata | Meiji period, late 19th century

VAT reduced rate

Lot Closed

November 3, 02:07 PM GMT

Estimate

80,000 - 100,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property from the John and Muriel Okladek Collection

A cloisonné enamel vase with dragon and tiger

Signed on a silver tablet Kyoto Namikawa (workshop of Namikawa Yasuyuki, 1845-1927), but attributed to Shibata

Meiji period, late 19^th century

the oviform vase decorated in various coloured enamels and worked in silver wire on a deep black ground, with a dragon and tiger in battle (ryuko), the details intricately delineated, the shoulder with a band imitating a brocade cloth cover, decorated with blue and red stylised chrysanthemum heads, karakusa and hanabishi, signed on a silver tablet Kyoto Namikawa (workshop of Namikawa Yasuyuki, 1845-1927), but attributed to Shibata

18 cm., 7⅛ in. high

Although the vase carries the Namikawa seal mark, it is more likely to be the work of the enigmatic Shibata, perhaps one Sozaburo Shibata, the only recorded maker of that name working in Kyoto. Nothing is known of this enameller and there has been much speculation around the fact that some cloisonné objects that carry the Kyoto Namikawa seal are manufactured with designs and wirework that imitate, but do not replicate that of Yasuyuki. For a discussion on this, see Fredric T. Schneider, The Art of Japanese Cloisonné Enamel, (North Carolina, 2010), pg. 240.