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Lot Essay
In the early 20th century, the Japanese artists started to integrate and adapt the Western artistic influence into various fields. The purely decorative and elegant style of characteristic had a great impact on Japanese artists. It inspired them to pursue more creative designs and to re-construct traditional Japanese design with a Westernized decorative essence as shown on the present lot.
This lavish plaque is a special commission, although the circumstances of its production are as yet unknown. Other plaques by the same artist with a similar frame, formerly in the collection of the Mitsui Family’s Western-style guest house (the Mitsui Tsunamachi Villa), were exhibited at the Mitsui Memorial Museum in 2011, Zohiko Urushi Art - from the Mitsui Memorial Museum Collection, pp. 81-84. The artist of this work, Segawa Shoryu (early 20th century) worked for Zohiko Company in Kyoto. The Zohiko lineage dates from the time of the Kyoto lacquer craftsman Nishimura Munetada (1720-1773), who acquired the nickname "elephant boy" (Zohiko) for his lacquer image of the deity Fugen (Samantabhadra) on an elephant mount.
This lavish plaque is a special commission, although the circumstances of its production are as yet unknown. Other plaques by the same artist with a similar frame, formerly in the collection of the Mitsui Family’s Western-style guest house (the Mitsui Tsunamachi Villa), were exhibited at the Mitsui Memorial Museum in 2011, Zohiko Urushi Art - from the Mitsui Memorial Museum Collection, pp. 81-84. The artist of this work, Segawa Shoryu (early 20th century) worked for Zohiko Company in Kyoto. The Zohiko lineage dates from the time of the Kyoto lacquer craftsman Nishimura Munetada (1720-1773), who acquired the nickname "elephant boy" (Zohiko) for his lacquer image of the deity Fugen (Samantabhadra) on an elephant mount.