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Lot Essay
This bowl was presented by Prince Fushimi at York House on Wednesday 16th May 1907 on behalf of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, in appreciation of the gift of a bulldog called "Duke" that was given to the Emperor on the occasion of the visit of the Japanese navy to Southport in Easter 1906. The bulldog was taken to Japan aboard the H.I.M.S. Katori and arrived in Japan on 3rd June 1906. The lot is accompanied by copies of originals of a newspaper article from the Southport Guardian dated 18th May 1907 and two letters - one from the commanding officer Kamimura (4th June 1906), and another from H. Sakamoto of H.I.M.S. Katori (5th June 1906).
Frederick T. Schneider mentions in his recent publication1 that Hattori Tadasaburo uniquely mastered the ability to create unusually high moriage as in the bowl above. He would attach wires on top of initial moriage layers and then fill those wires with additional heaped-up enamels. Little is known of his early life, although he was trained by Tsukamoto Jin'emon. He opened his own studio in 1888. He won a medal at the Chicago 1893 Exposition and by 1904 his work was considered to be good enough to be shown in the prestigious Art Palace rather than the Palace of Various Industries in the St. Louis exposition of that year. He won both bronze and silver medals at St. Louis and a silver medal at the Liege exposition. In 1910 he exhibited at the London Japan-British Exposition.
A visitor to Nagoya in 1899 wrote:
"Hattori exhibited the finest examples of delicate workmanship in brilliant enamels" placing him above Hayashi Kodenji, Kawaguchi and Tomiki.
In 1914 the Imperial Japanese Government Railways' Official Guide called him "one of five living master enamel makers", the others being Namikawa Yasuyuki, Namikawa Sosuke, Ando and Ota. He was one of the few enamellers appointed to the Imperial Household and many of his pieces in moriage technique, as above, carry the Imperial sixteen-petal chrysanthemum mon.
1.Frederick T. Schneider, The Art of Japanese Cloisonné Enamels, History, Techniques and Artists, 1600 to the Present, (North Carolina, 2010), p.202-203
For another Imperial presentation piece by Hattori Tadasaburo see The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art: Meiji No Takara: Treasures of Imperial Japan, Enamels, (London, 1994), no. 70
Frederick T. Schneider mentions in his recent publication
A visitor to Nagoya in 1899 wrote:
"Hattori exhibited the finest examples of delicate workmanship in brilliant enamels" placing him above Hayashi Kodenji, Kawaguchi and Tomiki.
In 1914 the Imperial Japanese Government Railways' Official Guide called him "one of five living master enamel makers", the others being Namikawa Yasuyuki, Namikawa Sosuke, Ando and Ota. He was one of the few enamellers appointed to the Imperial Household and many of his pieces in moriage technique, as above, carry the Imperial sixteen-petal chrysanthemum mon.
1.Frederick T. Schneider, The Art of Japanese Cloisonné Enamels, History, Techniques and Artists, 1600 to the Present, (North Carolina, 2010), p.202-203
For another Imperial presentation piece by Hattori Tadasaburo see The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art: Meiji No Takara: Treasures of Imperial Japan, Enamels, (London, 1994), no. 70