SIGNED KOMAI, MID-MEIJI PERIOD (CIRCA 1880-1900)

Details

A PAIR OF KOMAI VASES
Signed Komai, Mid-Meiji Period (Circa 1880-1900)
Each of flattened baluster form with ovoid body on a tall splayed foot, widening again towards the mouth which is formed as the gathered part of a curtain which hangs over the rest of the vase, Hotei and a group of karako [Chinese boys] playing with the curtain-ropes, the foot with keyfret patterns, the mouth with vine-leaves and grapes, the curtains and other areas of the surface in a variety of geometric patterns derived from textiles, interspersed with panels showing views in and around Kyoto, bird and flower motifs, a Chinese sage and other subjects, all this decoration executed in gold overlay and low relief with details in silver, each vase signed in gold overlay within a border just above the foot Kyoto no ju Komai sei [made by Komai of Kyoto]
12 3/8in. (31.4 cm.) high (2)

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Lot Essay

Around 1873 Komai Otojiro started selling damascened ironwares in Kobe, a centre of foreign trade, and within a few years his chargers, plaques, cabinets, model pagodas, and vases were in such demand that he was prosperous enough to buy a large house. The name of Komai seldom appears, however, in the lists of artists for international or national exhibitions until 1903, presumably because a Kyoto dealer, Ikeda Seisuke, marketed most of their work (for Ikeda, see lot 110). It was Ikeda, for example, who won a gold medal at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900 for a plate of gold and silver which may well have come from the Komai workshop.

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