Item number: 60207
A rare fine silver Hatsuri Tagane lidded box with Fearn pattern,
Yokohama circa 2018 by Otsuki Masako
Rectangular base with even sides. The slightly domed lid divided into three square sections, each decorated with subtle enamelling. The sides are decorated with three rhythmic leaf motifs, each of which follows the width of the square divisions on the lid. The interior is lined with fine-grained wood and features a separately inlaid box. The work is kept in a Tomobako, a traditional Japanese wooden box, inscribed and signed by Otsuki Masako herself.
24.0 cm / 9.44″ length, 8.0 cm / 3.14″ width, 10.5 cm / 4.13″ tall
An extraordinary, very substantial lidded box made of fine silver with a sculptural effect. Given its programmatic theme of carved fern leaf decoration, it is surely no coincidence that the wood of the inlay has its own distinctive, tart scent. The extraordinary rigour of the overall symmetry is subtly broken up by the different colours of the diamond-shaped enamel inlays, which are in a deep dark blue and black, something that only becomes apparent at second glance.
Japanese metal artist Otsuki Masako (1943–2022)
A graduate of Tama University in Tokyo with a degree in design, the artist focused on metalworking. Her trademark became metalwork in Hatsuri Tagane, a technique in which she achieved great mastery and gained recognition beyond the country’s borders, even in the United States. The subtractive technique is a process in which the pattern is cut into very thick metal using a hatsuri (a type of chisel). This technique gives the works a special three-dimensional effect with depth and shadow, which is particularly enhanced in this work by the patination (which also protects against tarnishing). The patina gives the entire work a colourful shimmer that takes on different colours depending on the incidence of light.
Her artistic concept was to express in her works the power of nature and the elements, as well as the energy that flows from them into the sky and space.
One of the artist’s vases is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, among other places.
