Item number: 60239
Exceptional Vase in Nanako-Zōgan 清流 (Seiryū) – Clear Stream,
Fine silver, fine gold, copper and iron,
Kanazawa 2016 by Satoshi Hara
Description follows soon.
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.
