26191 ITAYA Hazan, Imperial Household Artist and Ceramic Master, Ice-Flower Porcelain Incense Burner (Certificate of Authenticity from the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum)

Height 11.0cm
Diameter 10.6cm

He graduated from the sculpture department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (where he studied alongside Okakura Tenshin and Takamura Kokun). After winning numerous awards, including third place for his "Porcelain Gold-Purple Crystal Glaze Vase" at the 1907 Tokyo Industrial Exposition, he was appointed an Imperial Household Artist. He was the first ceramic artist to receive the Order of Culture. He also declined an offer to be designated a Living National Treasure in 1955, recognizing ceramics as an art form. As a master of the arts, he pioneered the establishment of modern ceramics as a distinctly traditional art form. This work was created by Japan's greatest ceramic artist, Hazan Itaya (1872-1963), regarded as one of the greatest ceramicists of the modern era. His representative works include the "Baoguang Porcelain Vase with Rare Fruit Design" (Important Cultural Property, Izumiya Hakukokan Museum Collection), the "Porcelain Vase with Enju Design" (Idemitsu Museum of Arts Collection), and the "Porcelain Vase with Poultry and Fruit Design" (Tsurui Museum of Art), making him an artist who has had an immeasurable influence on the history of modern ceramics. This is Itaya Hazan's masterpiece.

"Hyogaji" is a style of porcelain in which a transparent glaze is applied to a white base. This style was created through the study of ancient Chinese ceramics and imitates the shadow-blue porcelain of the Southern Song dynasty. The thin-walled carvings, a specialty of his, are highlighted by the precise carving techniques he acquired from Takamura Koun, a sculptor and Imperial Household Artist at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts' Sculpture Department. Combined with the neat forms created by the hands of Genda Ichimatsu, the lone potter's wheel master who continued to support Itaya Hazan behind the scenes, these pieces exude the utmost elegance and purity.

Among the incense burners he continued to create until his later years, this one stands out as exceptionally beautiful and exudes supreme artistry. It is a masterpiece with many highlights, including the tense inscription on the box. Its large size and impressive presence make it a masterpiece among masterpieces, and it is housed in various art museums as a museum piece, and the same work is featured in illustrated catalogs.