MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH CENTURY), SEALED SAKIGAKE (WORKSHOP OF NAMIKAWA SOSUKE; 1847-1910)

Namikawa Sosuke pioneered a pictorial style of cloisonné enameling as early as 1881, when his panels for the Second National Industrial Exposition at Ueno Park, were exhibited in the Art section. Other cloisonné workshops were confined to the Industrial section. Sosuke became an Imperial Craftsman together with Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927), no relation.

The seal mark of Mori on this tray may indicate that it was designed after a painting by the seventeenth century artist, Kano Tan'yu (1602-1674). Tan'yu's actual name was Morinobu and he often used the character Mori for his seals. For a painting by Kano Tan'yu with identical motif of a dove perched on a peach tree, see Sen-oku Hakukokan Sumitomo Collection (Kyoto: Benrido, 2010), pl. 31.