JIAJING SIX-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1522-1566)

The present lot was formerly in the Ehime Bunkakan Collection. The Ehime Museum of Art is located beside the moat of Imabari castle where the Hisamatsu family, a branch of the Tokugawa shogunate, had resided since 1635 in present day Ehime prefecture. The Ehime Museum of Art was established in 1955 by Ninomiya Kaneichi (1898-1996). Kaneichi was a successful businessman who made his fortune from forestry. When he was only eighteen years old, he had an important role in his father’s modest workshop of wood products. Kaneichi eventually took over the business and through skillful investments he introduced new machine tools and started a modern sawmilling factory. Using a keen business acumen, Kaneichi’s strenuously bought forest and mountains across Shikoku Island in the 1930s, sensing the dramatic change that would happen in society in the coming years when Japan would enter into a long period of war. His foresight was proven right, as after the war the demands of timber reached a height as cities were rebuilt. His contributions to his hometown of Imabari were particularly generous, where he was subsequently elected a city council member. After the war, Kaneichi grew concerned that traditional values and cultural relics had lost their importance in society and began to collect Chinese and Japanese antiques. Shortly after, he joined the Japanese Ceramics Society, and his knowledge became enriched by the top academics and long-standing antique dealers in the society, such as Mayuyama & Co., leading to enriching his collection with top quality works. His love of his hometown and his passion for art prompted him to open the Ehime Museum of Art, established to contribute to the cultural landscape of the local community.