Item number: 60217
An exceptional gold, silver, copper and Shibuichi “Black Quarter Inlaid Flower Vase” vase,
Kanazawa 2023 by Satoshi Hara
The circular, elongated body tapering towards the upper edge.
The base is made of copper, the elongated wall of shakudo while the upper edge has been made of silver. The body featuring a continuous, net-like pattern of inlaid silver, interrupted by square inlays of copper, silver, kuroshibuichi and accentuating inlaid dots of fine gold.
13 cm / 5.11″ diameter, 27 cm / 10.62″ tall
An exceptional vase in every respect, brilliantly crafted using the highly complex Nanako Zogan technique.
Particularly noteworthy in this work is the high precision of the line inlays, preceded by a fourfold engraving of the body, and the resulting optical illusion that gives the appearance of protruding spherical shapes which are reminiscent of designs by Dutch artist M. C. Escher.
The Japanese artist silversmith Satoshi Hara
Born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 1962, the artist specialises in producing wrought ironwork in which he inserts gold and silver decorations into the walls of vessels using an extremely difficult and labour-intensive technique. This highly developed inlay technique makes the decorations look as if they have been drawn with a thin pen. Hara created his own technique, which he called ‘Nanako Zogan’. While “Zogan” refers to a metal inlay technique, ‘Nanako’ stands for a traditional technique that originated in the Nara period (710-794) and whose dotted appearance is reminiscent of fish roe.
Using this technique, the artist is able to inlay patterns into the vessels using silver wires with a thickness of 0.3 mm, with each individual line requiring five different steps. On average, a piece consists of 50 m of silver wire, meaning that the artist has to work with around 250 m of silver wire throughout the various stages of the process. In this highly complex and tedious work, the artist cannot afford to make a mistake at any point, as it is impossible to correct it. Satoshi Hara has held the professorship for metalworking at Kanazawa College of Art, Department of Craft, since 2003. His work can be found in numerous museums in Japan and abroad.
