201 - RAKU KONYU (KICHIZAEMON XII): AN AMBER-GLAZED RAKU WARE ‘HAKKE’ KORO (INCENSE BURNER)

RAKU KONYU (KICHIZAEMON XII): AN AMBER-GLAZED RAKU WARE ‘HAKKE’ KORO (INCENSE BURNER) By Raku Konyu, Kichizaemon XII (1857-1932), sealed Raku Japan, dated 1919, Taisho period (1912-1926) Skillfully modeled, the flattened globular body supported on three short legs, with high rounded shoulders rising to a gently incurved rim and a circular mouth, surmounted by a slightly domed cover pierced with three cloud-shaped apertures. The surface is covered overall in a lustrous amber glaze suffused with a soft whitish bloom and finely carved with eight trigrams picked out in gilt, the edges of the apertures on the cover similarly highlighted. The underside bearing the RAKU seal mark. HEIGHT 10.2 cm, DIAMETER 12.3 cm Condition: Excellent condition. With the original wood tomobako (storage box), inscribed to the underside of the cover: Kichizaemon saku, ame-gusuri, hakke koro, tsuchinoto-hitsuji-doshi, konomu kore Sa, with kakihan, jugo no uchi, indicating that the censer was made by Raku Kichizaemon XII, decorated with ame-yu (ame-gusuri), or amber glaze, and Hakke, or the Eight Trigrams, and inscribed in the tsuchinoto-hitsuji year (1919). The inscription further records that the piece was favored by Sen Sosa (1863-1937), 12th-generation grand master of the Omotesenke school of tea ceremony, whose kakihan appears alongside, and that it formed one of a group of fifteen works. Raku Konyu (1857-1932) was the twelfth-generation head of the celebrated Raku family, whose ceramic tradition originated with Chojiro and the tea master Sen no Rikyu in late sixteenth-century Kyoto. Succeeding his father Keinyu in 1871, Konyu continued the family's distinguished tradition of producing ceramics for the Japanese tea ceremony, characterized by restrained forms and subtle glaze effects. The present incense burner is particularly notable for its association with Omotesenke, one of the three principal schools of the Japanese tea ceremony. Its original tomobako records that it was favored by Sen Sosa (1863-1937), the school's twelfth-generation grand master, and formed part of a group of fifteen works. Auction comparison: Compare a related black Raku ware tea bowl, by the same artist Raku Konyu, 12.2 cm diameter, at Christie’s, Japanese and Korean Art, 17 September 2009, New York, lot 1040 (sold for USD 6,875 or approx. EUR 9,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).