by KOSETSU (Yoshiki?) 皐雪
Showa period, 1950s
Carved coloured lacquers, choshitsu
26 x 24.3 x 6 (h) cm.
Signed & sealed tomobako
In viewing this piece we are drawn into a field of barley at the point of harvest, the crop’s heads heavy with the grain that may be destined to be roasted to produce mugi-cha – a staple drink throughout East Asia. The design is a fluid carving through multiple layers of rich ochre lacquer graded from deep orange down to the yellow ground level. The stylised ears of grain form a complex pattern through which thread the plants’ leaves. It is a superb three-dimensional vision which wraps around the top and sides of the writing box. The interior is a plain, low-gloss, black lacquer finish into which is set the simple inkstone.
Carved lacquer, choshitsu, is a reductive process, first requiring the artist to create sufficient depth of lacquer to enable the carving. A single layer of applied lacquer is similar to a coat of thinned paint, so to create the 3mm thickness of this piece up to 100 layers would have been applied. Each layer had to ‘cure’ for at least 24 hours before polishing and then applying the next layer. It is therefore a painstaking process even before the demanding process of carving to reveal a design can begin. The finished piece has the characteristic weight of solid lacquer.
The art of carving lacquer was developed in Song period China around the 12th century. When first imported to Japan in the 14th century its methods amazed the Japanese. Believing that they could not match such perfection, the immediate Japanese response was to invent the technique of kamikura-bori, in which the design would be carved in wood and be given an over-coating of lacquer. The art of carving the lacquer itself is closely associated with the Takamatsu School on the island of Shikoku.
The 20th-century Takamatsu artist and teacher, Otamaru Kodo, specialised in the choshitsu techniques, and in 1955 was designated a Living National Treasure for his skills. While it has not been possible to yet find out more about Kosetsu, he was clearly an artist of great design and technical talent, and most likely studied at the Takamatsu School. A label attached to the tomobako confirms that the work was sold from the Shimizu Honten store, still operating in Asakusa, Tokyo.