A FINE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL VASE BY INABA

Description:

Japan, naba Nanaho, Meiji period
H. 15,3 cm
Worked in gold and silver wire and coloured enamels on a blue-black ground with birds among wisteria. Signed on a silver tablet on the gilt-silver base.
From a private collection in northern Germany, collected from 1985 - 2006.
The Kin'unken company in Kyoto was founded around 1871 and sold to Inaba Shichiho in 1889. Kin'unken won prizes at international exhibitions in Vienna 1873, Paris 1878, Amsterdam 1883 and Nuremberg 1885. Inaba had worked with the company since the late 1870s as a former samurai to supplement his meagre salary. His artist's name Nanaho is composed of the same characters as those for Shippo, the Japanese term for enamel, which can also be read Nanaho. The workshop's production was quite eclectic, combining designs and techniques from other Kyoto makers with those from Nagoya. Suppliers from Nagoya were often commissioned to make Kyoto-style work, which can lead to confusion when trying to identify unsigned work for the company. Inaba/Kin'unken used both names for their cloisonné works and continued to win prizes at international exhibitions - Very slightly chipped, fine stress lines above the stand