photo: WATANABE Osamu
Cross, sarasa design, maki-e
| Artist | Unryuan, KITAMURA Tatsuo |
|---|---|
| Year | 2007 |
| Material/ Technique | wood, Japanese lacquer, gold, shell |
| Size/ Duration | H13 × W9.5 × D4.2cm |
| Copyright Notice | © Unryuan, KITAMURA Tatsuo |
| Year of acquisition/ donation | 2012 |
| Description | Born in Ishikawa, Japan in 1952. Lives and works there. Kitamura Tatsuo, a lacquer craft studio head and producer, works under the name Unryuan. Among the various Japanese lacquer techniques, Kitamura especially excels in mother-of-pearl (‘raden’) and gold lacquer (‘maki-e’). He has invested great effort in recreating lost techniques of using motherof-pearl and gold lacquer, such as were used in inro cases and the Somada technique of fine shell inlay. Besides creating his own original works at the Unryuan studio, he has in recent years also devoted energy to restoring traditional items used by Edoperiod (1615-1868) feudal lords, such as ‘jusshukobako’ incense game sets and ‘kai-oke’ clamshell game buckets. Restoring such items requires a range of sophisticated craft techniques, including woodworking, cord tassel, lacquer painting, and porcelain ceramics. These projects are undertaken as a group in order to pass down the techniques to younger generation artisans. Kitamura also actively engages in collaborations with overseas name brands and independent watch makers, such as the Waltham watch company, America’s oldest brand of watch with a history of 160 years. Minutely cut and inlaid mother-of-pearl and cut-metal foil (‘kirikane’) are featured in many of Unryuan’s lacquer works. The works here – a cross, sacred egg caskets, and a box for incense wood – differ in design and usage, but all display profuse, detailed decoration and move us with the beauty of their metal foil and mother-of-pearl patterns. The technique employed, ‘saiei maki-e’ (color-shadow gold lacquer), uses dark and light contrasts to impart a three-dimensional visual effect to the traditional Somada technique of mother-of-pearl and cut-metal foil. An original technique created by Unryuan, saiei maki-e manifests colors of profound richness, depending on the angle of light. Somada-zaiku is a technique of extremely detailed burnished maki-e established by SOMADA Kiyosuke, an artisan invited from Kyoto by the Toyama clan in the 17th century. It was later lost in the 19th century. Unryuan has recreated this technique, imparting a contemporary feel to it under the name saiei maki-e, and fully employed it in the works shown. Contemporary design born from traditional Japanese craft yet unrestrained by Japanese style is an Unryuan hallmark reflecting the studio’s unique world view. |
NOTES
This Collection Data page contains the works and materials in the collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, as of April 1, 2018.
Artists are listed alphabetically by artist’s surname.
Works and materials by the same artists are listed according to the date of the work in principle.
Works whose dates are unidentified are listed at the end of each item. Some works are not listed according to the date of work due to their relations.
The data of works and materials are listed in order of title, production year, material/technique/form, dimensions, donor’s name, copyright holder and credit for photograph.
Dimensions are given by height (H) x width (W) in centimeters for plane work, and height (H) x width (W) x depth (D) in cm for 3-D work. Diameter (Ø) is used for circular work.
For the name of country or city, the name currently used in English is listed in principle.