26145 Itaya Hazan Cinnabar Porcelain Vase with Delicacy Design (same handicraft)

Height 26.2cm
Diameter 20.6cm

He graduated from the sculpture department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (where he studied alongside Okakura Tenshin and Takamura Kokun), and after winning numerous awards, including third place for his "Porcelain Gold-Purple Crystal Glazed Vase" at the Tokyo Industrial Exposition in 1907, he was appointed an Imperial Household Artist. He was the first ceramic artist to receive the Order of Culture, and, recognizing ceramics as an art form, declined an offer to be designated a Living National Treasure in 1955. As a ceramic artist who studied the fundamentals of art, he was a pioneer in establishing modern ceramic art that was not traditional, and is regarded as one of Japan's greatest ceramic artists, unparalleled in modern times. This work is by Itaya Hazan (1872-1963), one of Japan's greatest ceramic artists.

He was a ceramic artist who had an immeasurable influence on the history of modern ceramics, leaving behind such masterpieces as the "Baoguang Porcelain Vase with Rare Fruit Design" (Important Cultural Property, Izumiya Hakukokan Museum), the "Porcelain Vase with Longevity Design" (Idemitsu Museum of Arts), and the "Porcelain Vase with Bird and Fruit Design" (Tsurui Museum of Art). While studying sculpture at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, he was honed by sculptor and Imperial Household Artist Takamura Koun, and his meticulous carving techniques, which stand out, are characteristic of his thin-walled sculptures. Combined with the elegant forms created by the hands of Genda Ichimatsu, the lone potter's wheel master who continued to support Itaya Hazan behind the scenes, his works exude the utmost elegance and purity.

Among the works he continued to create until his later years, this one stands out as being particularly wonderful and of supreme artistic quality.