A SILVER EWER AND COVER WITH PHOENIX SPOUT
A SILVER EWER AND COVER WITH PHOENIX SPOUT
A SILVER EWER AND COVER WITH PHOENIX SPOUT
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A PRIVATE JAPANESE COLLECTION SINCE MID-20TH CENTURY
A SILVER EWER AND COVER WITH PHOENIX SPOUT

MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH CENTURY), SIGNED ZOROKU HOKO AND SEALED (HATA ZOROKU; 1823-1890)

Details
A SILVER EWER AND COVER WITH PHOENIX SPOUT
MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH CENTURY), SIGNED ZOROKU HOKO AND SEALED (HATA ZOROKU; 1823-1890)
The compressed globular form ewer, finely cast and chiselled with Chinese taotie style masks, dragons and animals in high relief set on leiwen (thunder pattern) grounds simulating ancient Chinese bronze vessels, the sprout in the shape of a phoenix head, jade finial on cover; signature on the bottom tier of body
7 1⁄8 in. (18.1 cm.) high
With original box inscripted Gin yuwakashi and sealed on cover, titled Ho hoshu totetsu mon kashiki, signed Zoroku zo and sealed

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Takaaki_Murakami
Takaaki Murakami Vice President, Specialist and Head of Department | Korean Art

Lot Essay

Hata Zoroku was a Meiji master in cast metal in the lost-wax technique. He learned metalwork techniques in the studio of Ryubundo in Kyoto. He was especially renowned for his works inspired by archaic Chinese bronzes. A boom in Japanese collectors with antiquarian interests spurred craftsmen such as Hata Zoroku to focus on the study and replication of Chinese antiquities during the Meiji period.
Hata produced works for the Imperial Household and it is known that he made the gold Imperial seal and national seal by order of the Imperial Household in 1873. He was under consideration as Artist to the Imperial Household (Teishitsu Gigeiin). He died several days before the announcement of these designations in 1890.
For bronze works by Zoroku in the collection of the Imperial Household, see The Era of Meiji Bijutsu-kai and Nihon Kinko Kyokai, in Meiji bijutsu saiken I (Reappraisal of Meiji Art I) (Tokyo: Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan, 1995), pp. 40-41.

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