MEIJI-TAISHO PERIOD (EARLY 20TH CENTURY), SIGNED SHIGEMITSU (HIRATA SHIGEMITSU; 1855-1926) AND SEALED SUIHITSU SEI (MADE BY SUIHITSU WORKSHOP)

Details

A Large Imperial silver presentation bowl
Meiji-Taisho period (early 20th century), signed Shigemitsu (Hirata Shigemitsu; 1855-1926) and sealed Suihitsu sei (made by Suihitsu Workshop)
The deep rounded bowl set on a circular, flaring stem foot, the body hammered and deeply carved with sprays of large chrysanthemum flowers, the stem designed with overlapping leaves in high relief, with three sixteen-petal chrysanthemum crests of the Imperial Household on the body, signature and seal jungin (pure silver) on base
14½in. (36.8cm.) diameter; 9¼in. (23.5cm.) high
With wood stand and box

Provenance

A New England, U.S., private collection, acquired in the 1970s

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Lot Essay

Hirata Shigemitsu was one of the most prominent metal-hammering craftsmen of the Meiji period. He produced work mainly for the Imperial Household and also exhibited regularly in international exhibitions. With Kurokawa Eisho (1854-1917), Hirata initiated the metal-hammering division of the Tokyo Chokokai (Tokyo Society of Metal Artists), founded in 1887. Examples with Hirata's workshop seal "Suihitsu sei" are very rare.

For a pair of silver vases by Hirata Shigemitsu in the collection of the Imperial Household, see The Era of Meiji Bijutsu-kai and Nihon Kinko Kyokai, in Meiji bijutsu saiken I (Reappraisal of Meiji Art I) (Tokyo: Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan, 1995), no. 27.

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