Lot 251*
Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891) Meiji Period
10 November 2011, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £26,250 inc. premium
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Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891)
Meiji Period
A shikishi-ban urushi-e, painted in green, red and black lacquer on paper, depicting a flower vase with a trailing branch of boke (chaenomeles japonica, also known as Japanese quince) blossoms set against a plain ground, signed in black lacquer Zeshin with red lacquer signature Koma in seal form. 19.5cm x 17cm (7 5/8in x 6 13/16in).
A shikishi-ban urushi-e, painted in green, red and black lacquer on paper, depicting a flower vase with a trailing branch of boke (chaenomeles japonica, also known as Japanese quince) blossoms set against a plain ground, signed in black lacquer Zeshin with red lacquer signature Koma in seal form. 19.5cm x 17cm (7 5/8in x 6 13/16in).
Footnotes
色紙判漆絵 木瓜に一輪挿図 柴田是真筆 明治時代
Zeshin's long artistic career is marked by several striking innovations in lacquer technique and compositional layout. These two interests come together in the lacquer paintings, or urushi-e, of his later period. For these he invented a method of mixing colour with a kind of lacquer that would not crack when applied to a flexible surface such as paper or silk. In the painting presented here, the strong dominant shape of the vase and the sharp diagonal formed by the leaves at the top and the single stem of boke across the page is a compositional device mastered by Zeshin.
