Hydrangea - Rare Box

Vintage @ 1958

HYDRANGEA WRITING BOX - RARE

A superb and Extremely Rare over 63 years old Wajima lacquer letter box,.
Using a rare technique of fine crushed egg shell into the lacquer of the stylised hydrangea flowers.
The rims of the cover and the box edged in Japanese Silver.

This box is also extremely rare because it was made by a female artist, whereas nearly all lacquer work was done by a male. Refer Bio Below.

For the connoisseur of Japanese lacquer this is a very rare box by a rare artist. Refer Bio Below.

Refer to the large images for full of details of quality and condition, as new in mint condition, a stored family treasure.

Original Tomobako - Wood Box
Characters read : Aji Sai Maki e Te Bun Ko - Hydrangea maki e lacquer letter box.
So Sai Saku - So Sai (artist name) Made

Length about : 33 cm
Width about : 23 cm
Height about: 7 cm
Weight about: 787 grams

A$295
Tonami Sosai 砺波宋斎（となみそうさい）
The 2nd Sosai - Born 7th year of Taisho, 1918
Tonami Nakako (later to become the 2nd Sosai) was born in Kanazawa into a family of Urushi Artists.
She had 4 sisters and 2 brothers, and was the second daughter.
Her father Tonami Hirotaro (彦太郎) had 10 apprentices in his lacquer work shop.
After graduating from primary school, Nakako attended technical school and learned sewing.
In the 5th year of Showa (1930), she started learning Japanese painting under Kontani Mitsutoshi (紺谷光俊).
She won an award in the Kaneshiro Gadan (金城画壇) in the 12th year of Showa (1937). Kaneshiro Gadan was a local talented artist group established in the 15th year of Taisho (1926).
After her teacher Kontani passed away in the 19th year of Showa (1944), she then studied Japanese painting under Hatayama Kinsei (畑山錦成) and won many awards in Modern Art Exhibitions and Hokuriku Art Exhibitions.
It was when Nakako was teaching Art at the Kokumin Gakko (primary and part of junior school ), that she took over the family business.
Her oldest brother died during WWII , shortlyafter her second brother died from a heart attack.
Her father Hikotaro, the ‘First Sosai’ taught Nakako the Urushi technique .
In the 31st year of Showa 1956, Hikotaro passed away, Nakako became the ‘Second Sosai’..
Hikotaro had 10 brothers, he and his second brother became Urushi artists.
The second brother is the father of the great Urushi artist Oba Matsugyo, (大場松魚) Soshuu(宋秀).
Because of the family connection, Nakako received advice from Oba for her drawings as well as being taught a decoration technique using egg shells.
Oba recommended her to enter the Japanese Traditional Art Exhibion where she won first prize with little box called Kobako (小筥), going on to win many other awards in this and many other exhibitions.

Ref:
Women and Crafts-Women Artist of Decorative Art in Ishikawa Prefecture by Takaharu Miyashita and Mako Yoshizumi 8th year of Heisei 1996, Kanagawa University

The finest quality wood lacquer in the world is that made in Japan.
Made using only the best woods such as, Zelkova (keyaki), Japanese Chestnut, Japanese Cypress, Magnolia, Cherry.
It takes approximately 6 months and 23 different processes from start to finish to produce each individual Handmade Item