TAISHO PERIOD (EARLY 20TH CENTURY), SIGNED AKATSUKA JITOKU SAKU (AKATSUKA JITOKU;1871-1936)

Born in Tokyo, Akatsuka Jitoku was the seventh generation of a family of lacquer craftsmen. In addition to his training in lacquer, he learned Nihonga painting from Kano Hisanobu and Terazaki Kogyo (1866-1919) and then went on to study Western-style painting at the Hakubakai Kenkyujo (the Institute of the White Horse Society) in 1912. As a result he was able to modernize his craft by adding an element of Western naturalism to his otherwise very traditional, conservative lacquer techniques. Jitoku won a gold medal at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. In 1930 he was appointed Imperial Artist, a member of the elite Teikoku geijutsuin (the Imperial Art Academy). Several examples of his work were selected by the imperial household as official presentation gifts.
The motif of this lacquer writing table and box evokes one of Japan’s three celebrated scenic spots: Matsushima, a cluster of small, pine-clad islands off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, long admired and designated as a place of distinction since ancient times. The view was immortalized in a famous haiku by the seventeenth-century poet Matsuo Basho. This motif was also favored by many of celebrated Rimpa artists such as Tawaraya Sotatsu (C.1570-1640) , Ogata Korin (1658-1716) and Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743). For the well-known screen with the motif of Matsushima by Ogata Korin (1658-1716) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, see Japanese Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Tokyo: Tokyo National Museum, 2012), no. 55.