188 - KUMENO TEITARO: AN EXCEPTIONAL MORIAGE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL ‘BLOOMING PLANTAIN LILIES’ VASE

KUMENO TEITARO: AN EXCEPTIONAL MORIAGE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL ‘BLOOMING PLANTAIN LILIES’ VASE By Kumeno Teitaro (1861-1939), sealed Kume Japan, early 20th century, late Meiji period (1868-1912) to Taisho period (1912-1926) Finely crafted, the elegant baluster body gently tapering toward the foot, with high, rounded shoulders rising to a short, slightly waisted neck and everted mouth, the mouth and foot fitted with metal mounts. The exterior masterfully decorated in thickly applied polychrome moriage enamels with blooming plantain lilies (hostas, giboshi), their clusters of delicate white and vivid cobalt-blue trumpet-shaped blossoms, some fully open to reveal fine yellow stamens, others still tightly closed in buds, rising amid gracefully curving stems and broad, deeply veined emerald-green leaves, all against a smooth, luminous pale blue-gray ground. The blossoms and foliage are exceptionally finely modeled in remarkably high relief, with the individual petals and rounded buds projecting boldly from the surface, while the broad, undulating leaves are rendered with deeply sculpted veins and delicately curling edges, lending the composition an extraordinary sense of depth, movement, and naturalism. The underside bearing the impressed seal KUME. HEIGHT 24.6 cm WEIGHT 1.1 kg Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and manufacturing irregularities, including scattered minute pitting. Fine hairline cracks to the enamel near a white flower and to the adjacent foliage. Minor expected wear to the metal mounts. No signs of restoration or damage visible under UV light. Kumeno Teitaro (1861-1939) gained widespread recognition for his exquisite ginbari enamels and his mastery of innovative cloisonné techniques. In 1882, he established his own studio and subsequently exhibited his works at numerous national and international exhibitions, including Nuremberg in 1885, Paris in 1889, where he was awarded a silver medal, and Chicago in 1893. His exceptional craftsmanship was further recognized with a grand prize at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 and a gold medal at Liège in 1905. Moriage, literally ‘piling up’, is a painstaking technique involving the successive application and firing of layers of enamel to create a three-dimensional effect. Requiring exceptional technical precision, particularly during the delicate polishing process, it is especially suited to the naturalistic rendering of flowers and foliage. The technique is believed to have been inspired by raised enamels exhibited by Western craftsmen at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. In Japan, moriage was notably presented by Kawade Shibataro and the Ando Company at the Fifth National Industrial Exhibition in Osaka in 1903. The considerable technical difficulty involved, together with its striking visual effect, has made such works particularly prized among collectors of Japanese cloisonné. Particularly noteworthy is the exceptionally pronounced relief of the decoration on the present vase, with the blossoms and foliage projecting boldly from the smooth enamel ground, approaching the sculptural qualities of works modeled almost in the round. The ambitious modeling, combined with the delicate tonal variations and striking contrast between the vibrant flowers and restrained blue-gray ground, lends the composition an extraordinary sense of vitality. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related moriage cloisonné enamel vase by Kumeno Teitaro, decorated with peony blossoms rendered in relief, dated to the early 20th century, 25.4 cm high, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese and Korean Works of Art, New York, 18 March 2015, lot 3165 (sold for USD 15,000 or approx. EUR 19,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).