by NAGATA Yuji (active early 18th century)
Edo period,18th century. Gold makie on coloured ground.
Stand 17.5 dia. x 10 (h), cups 11.3, 12.6, and 14 cm dia. Sealed Seiseishi, Nagata Yuji. Original storage box
The title of this set may be read as ‘Pavilion in a Bamboo Forest’, chikukantei, its design evoking the setting of a bamboo grove. Boldly stylised depictions of bamboo, rendered in a simple palette of variegated gold makie, wrap around the forms of the cups and stand in designs reminiscent of Ogata Korin’s rinpa style. The effect captures the spontaneity of brushstrokes quickly made but, of course, rendered in the painstaking medium of lacquer. Nagata worked in Kyoto, and is said to have greatly admired, and closely studied, the works of Korin, to incorporate the essence of rinpa into his own work. Such was his devotion that he adopted the title Seiseishi, disciple of Seisei (Korin). He later moved to Edo, relinquishing the craft of makie to become a Tea Master.