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Lot Essay
A slightly smaller (14.5 cm.) carved black lacquer box of this pattern, dated to the Southern Song Dynasty, was included in the Nezu Institute of fine arts, Tokyo, exhibition, ‘The Colors and Forms of Song and Yuan China’, and illustrated in the catalogue no. 106.
Yamanaka Tateo: A Remarkable Career in Asian Art
For nearly 60 years, Yamanaka Tateo 山中建生 the owner of Seikado art gallery精華堂 in Tokyo has specialised in works of art from China, Korea and Japan. The passion and dedication he has for his subject is evident in recounting his personal story and highlights from his long career. He has devoted much of his life to furthering his connoisseurship by regularly visiting museums and libraries and amassing a substantial library. His broad knowledge enabled him to seize opportunities and acquire important artworks in the fiercely competitive Japanese antique market, while his scholarly demeaner facilitated his interactions with academics and curators.
Mr. Yamanaka was initially exposed to the art and antique market while visiting his elder brother who worked for a Ukiyo-e print gallery in Ueno 上野, Tokyo. In 1967, he joined Fugendo 不言堂 run by the legendary art dealer Goro Sakamoto 坂本五郎 (1923-2016) who dealt in a wide range of East Asian art and antiques. At that time very few Japanese art dealers had international business dealings, Goro Sakamoto relied on Mr Yamanaka fluency in English and regularly sent him abroad, primarily to Europe, to acquire pieces. On these trips he met important dealers such as Edward T. Chow and Giuseppe Eskenazi. He acquired a guanyao mallet vase in Europe that was later sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2008 for HK$67,000,000.
Mr. Yamanaka handled many important pieces that are now preserved in public institutions including four Japanese national museums in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Kyushu. One of the most notable events in his career occurred on 23 October 1973 at Sasazuka-kai 笹塚会, one of the most prestigious dealer's auctions in Tokyo. While Mr Yamanaka was delivering Fugendo’s consignment for the auction, he saw a large group of people huddled around something, he pushed through the crowd to see what they were looking at. To his surprise, there sat a magnificent blue and white jar from Yuan dynasty painted with fish within a lotus pond in a brilliant cobalt blue, reminding him of another jar he had seen in the Brooklyn Museum. Mr Yamanaka immediately phoned his master, Mr Sakamoto, who was attending another dealer’s auction in Kyushu. Excited, he urged Mr Sakamoto to purchase it, regardless of the price. As Mr Sakamoto was more than 1,000km away, he could not return in time to inspect the ‘vase’ before the sale. Mr Yamanaka was still an apprentice, and as such it was highly unusual for him to make such a strong plea, however moved by Mr Yamanaka’s passionate appeal, Mr Sakamoto gave him the authority to buy the jar, no matter the cost. After fierce competition, he won the jar for JPY 90 million, a record price at the time which was widely reported in the media. The news reached the collector, Ataka Eiichi 安宅英一 (1901-1994) who was on holiday in Switzerland. He cut his trip short and immediately returned to Tokyo, racing to Fugendo in Nihonbashi directly from Hanada Airport to acquire the jar. The jar is widely recognized as one of the masterpieces from the Ataka Collection now housed in The Museum of Oriental Ceramics Museum, Osaka (fig. 1).
After completing his 10 years apprenticeship at Fugendo, Mr. Yamanaka opened his own gallery in 1985, Seikado, in Nihonbashi. The name of Seikado was taken from a phrase written by Okakura Tenshin岡倉天心 (1863 - 1913), a pioneer in the field of Western Art History, in his preface in the first issue of Kokka 國華, the first art historical journal in Japan. He wrote “exquisite art works are seika 精華of an nation…”. 精 represents principle or essence, 華 represents flower”. The name of gallery represents Mr Yamanaka’s wish to handle significant art works for which the Japanese aesthetic and a cultural element co-exist. He decided to focus his attention within Japan where he found hidden or forgotten important art works stored in warehouses of old Japanese families which he then sold, many to public and private institutions; this he found more exciting than travelling abroad.
For Mr Yamanaka, Buddhist Art became an important subject of personal and professional interest. Among the great number of Buddhist art masterpieces he handled in his career, the Kamakura period Buddhist painting “The Buddha Entering Nirvana” now in Kyushu National Museum is one of the most important and notable for its exquisite quality. The painting measures nearly three meters high, it richly depicts Nirvana with the central figure of Buddha surrounded demeanor by his disciples, arhat and animals. While similar Nirvana paintings are known, such as those in the Freer Gallery of Art and The Metropolitan Museum, the quality of the one in Kyushu is more striking in its realistic and humanised depiction of the multiple figures. The painting is also important for academics as it bears an inscription to the reverse dating to 1323. It was known to have been in the collection of Fujita family before WW2, thence missing until Mr Yamanaka discovered it in Osaka. He later sold it directly to Kyushu National Museum and subsequently registered as Important Cultural Property (fig. 2).
Antique dealers play and essential role in the Japanese domestic market, they supply works of art to collectors, museums and academics; only professionals are able to attend the dealer’s auctions where the works are traded. Mr Yamanaka organizes one of the many dealer’s auctions, Towankai 桃碗会, where notable Chinese paintings are often sold. In this context, Mr Yamanaka is one of the most prominent antique dealers in Japan providing seika 精華of his country to public museums and the market as a whole.
The Chinese works of art offered in this auction are from Mr Yamanaka’s personal collection formed over many years, mostly sourced from old family collections. He acknowledged that it has been a great joy to be able to own the present guanyao bowl (lot 1377), for Mr Yamanaka it represents the sublime beauty of Southern Song dynasty to which the aesthetics of Japanese culture has its roots.
Yamanaka Tateo: A Remarkable Career in Asian Art
For nearly 60 years, Yamanaka Tateo 山中建生 the owner of Seikado art gallery精華堂 in Tokyo has specialised in works of art from China, Korea and Japan. The passion and dedication he has for his subject is evident in recounting his personal story and highlights from his long career. He has devoted much of his life to furthering his connoisseurship by regularly visiting museums and libraries and amassing a substantial library. His broad knowledge enabled him to seize opportunities and acquire important artworks in the fiercely competitive Japanese antique market, while his scholarly demeaner facilitated his interactions with academics and curators.
Mr. Yamanaka was initially exposed to the art and antique market while visiting his elder brother who worked for a Ukiyo-e print gallery in Ueno 上野, Tokyo. In 1967, he joined Fugendo 不言堂 run by the legendary art dealer Goro Sakamoto 坂本五郎 (1923-2016) who dealt in a wide range of East Asian art and antiques. At that time very few Japanese art dealers had international business dealings, Goro Sakamoto relied on Mr Yamanaka fluency in English and regularly sent him abroad, primarily to Europe, to acquire pieces. On these trips he met important dealers such as Edward T. Chow and Giuseppe Eskenazi. He acquired a guanyao mallet vase in Europe that was later sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2008 for HK$67,000,000.
Mr. Yamanaka handled many important pieces that are now preserved in public institutions including four Japanese national museums in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Kyushu. One of the most notable events in his career occurred on 23 October 1973 at Sasazuka-kai 笹塚会, one of the most prestigious dealer's auctions in Tokyo. While Mr Yamanaka was delivering Fugendo’s consignment for the auction, he saw a large group of people huddled around something, he pushed through the crowd to see what they were looking at. To his surprise, there sat a magnificent blue and white jar from Yuan dynasty painted with fish within a lotus pond in a brilliant cobalt blue, reminding him of another jar he had seen in the Brooklyn Museum. Mr Yamanaka immediately phoned his master, Mr Sakamoto, who was attending another dealer’s auction in Kyushu. Excited, he urged Mr Sakamoto to purchase it, regardless of the price. As Mr Sakamoto was more than 1,000km away, he could not return in time to inspect the ‘vase’ before the sale. Mr Yamanaka was still an apprentice, and as such it was highly unusual for him to make such a strong plea, however moved by Mr Yamanaka’s passionate appeal, Mr Sakamoto gave him the authority to buy the jar, no matter the cost. After fierce competition, he won the jar for JPY 90 million, a record price at the time which was widely reported in the media. The news reached the collector, Ataka Eiichi 安宅英一 (1901-1994) who was on holiday in Switzerland. He cut his trip short and immediately returned to Tokyo, racing to Fugendo in Nihonbashi directly from Hanada Airport to acquire the jar. The jar is widely recognized as one of the masterpieces from the Ataka Collection now housed in The Museum of Oriental Ceramics Museum, Osaka (fig. 1).
After completing his 10 years apprenticeship at Fugendo, Mr. Yamanaka opened his own gallery in 1985, Seikado, in Nihonbashi. The name of Seikado was taken from a phrase written by Okakura Tenshin岡倉天心 (1863 - 1913), a pioneer in the field of Western Art History, in his preface in the first issue of Kokka 國華, the first art historical journal in Japan. He wrote “exquisite art works are seika 精華of an nation…”. 精 represents principle or essence, 華 represents flower”. The name of gallery represents Mr Yamanaka’s wish to handle significant art works for which the Japanese aesthetic and a cultural element co-exist. He decided to focus his attention within Japan where he found hidden or forgotten important art works stored in warehouses of old Japanese families which he then sold, many to public and private institutions; this he found more exciting than travelling abroad.
For Mr Yamanaka, Buddhist Art became an important subject of personal and professional interest. Among the great number of Buddhist art masterpieces he handled in his career, the Kamakura period Buddhist painting “The Buddha Entering Nirvana” now in Kyushu National Museum is one of the most important and notable for its exquisite quality. The painting measures nearly three meters high, it richly depicts Nirvana with the central figure of Buddha surrounded demeanor by his disciples, arhat and animals. While similar Nirvana paintings are known, such as those in the Freer Gallery of Art and The Metropolitan Museum, the quality of the one in Kyushu is more striking in its realistic and humanised depiction of the multiple figures. The painting is also important for academics as it bears an inscription to the reverse dating to 1323. It was known to have been in the collection of Fujita family before WW2, thence missing until Mr Yamanaka discovered it in Osaka. He later sold it directly to Kyushu National Museum and subsequently registered as Important Cultural Property (fig. 2).
Antique dealers play and essential role in the Japanese domestic market, they supply works of art to collectors, museums and academics; only professionals are able to attend the dealer’s auctions where the works are traded. Mr Yamanaka organizes one of the many dealer’s auctions, Towankai 桃碗会, where notable Chinese paintings are often sold. In this context, Mr Yamanaka is one of the most prominent antique dealers in Japan providing seika 精華of his country to public museums and the market as a whole.
The Chinese works of art offered in this auction are from Mr Yamanaka’s personal collection formed over many years, mostly sourced from old family collections. He acknowledged that it has been a great joy to be able to own the present guanyao bowl (lot 1377), for Mr Yamanaka it represents the sublime beauty of Southern Song dynasty to which the aesthetics of Japanese culture has its roots.