Posted 5 years ago
kwqd
(1181 items)
This small jug or vase is about 4" high x 5" diameter. It came with the signed tomo-bako wooden box. This is an original piece made by Iwata Hisatoshi. It is a deep purple/blue color with white and yellow accents. There is an ukon-fu (tumeric cloth) to wrap the jug in and a sanado-himo (flat string) which feeds through holes in the base to tie the box shut. There is a printed label attached under the lid. I purchased this piece from a buyer for Christies. She is Japanese and was selling off some of her personal collection.
Iwata Hisatoshi 1925-1994 was born in Tokyo, the eldest son of Iwata Toshichi, the father of modern Japanese art glass. Iwata studied at the Tokyo Bijutsu school in the design department. He graduated from the prestigious Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1950. He was selected for Nitten (Japanese Fine Arts Exhibition) for the first time in 1949 and continued to exhibit there afterward. He inherited Iwata Industrial Art Glass which his father founded in 1953. Iwata established the Japan Industrial Arts Society in 1972 and was its chairperson afterward for five years. He was a founding member of the Shiseido-sponsored Exhibition of Modern Industrial Arts (1975–95), submitting works for display eighteen times up until 1993. His work was added to the permanent of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art 20th century Design and Architecture section in 1986. His work is also part of the collection of the Corning Glass Museum. He is also known as Iwata Kuri. Kuri means "chestnut" in Japanese.
Iwata Toshichi (1893-1980) is considered to be the founding father of Modern art glass making in Japan. Iwata graduated from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts metal-craft department in 1918. He then earned a BA in Western (Oil) Painting in 1923. Iwata next moved to study glass under Imamura Shigezo at the Tachibana Glass Factory. Iwata exhibited his works at the Nitten National Exhibition before and after the Second World War, serving as an exhibition judge there later in life. Iwata received the Japan Art Academy Prize in 1951. In 1972 he founded the Japan Glass Art and Crafts Association. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1980 by the Emperor for his lifetime of devotion to the arts. His works have been collected by the The National Museums of Modern Art, in both Tokyo and Kyoto, and several of his pieces are held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York among many others.
A STUNNER “!!!!!!!” BOXED TOO
This is a great post! Love the jug, love the box, love the information. Which we could all have this kind of background to add to our unknown stuff.....lol.
@renedijkstra - Why?
Thanks for loving my Iwata handled jug welzebub, Watchsearcher, truthordare, fortapache, officialfuel, Thomas, aura, Broochman, Jenni and Kevin!
I had it looked at by an expert who confirmed the authenticity of the piece and the box before I purchased it. I also compared the signature, myself, to several other examples and could see no difference. I lived in Japan for a year and a half and formally studied the language and writing, though that was a few decades ago, but I still feel comfortable with analyzing the writing and signature. The seller had a large quantity of period materials, glass, books, pottery, etc., from a collection and it all looked good.
Thank you sklo42 and PhilDMorris!
I know nothing at all about Chinese art, language or writing and have no interest in learning about it. Anything I have that is Chinese I have just because it is pretty.....
I lived in Japan for a year and a half but studied/learned Japanese for several years longer, though not formally, more conversationally. I lived with a Japanese woman and one of my close family members married a woman he met in Japan so I continued to learn as they and their children are all bilingual. I moved away from all of them about 20 years ago so my Japanese is rusty. I've never met a Japanese speaker where I live, now. I am not as fluent as I once was, but it is not difficult to compare two writing samples to see if they match. No translation skills are needed to do that and writing/signature comparison is something I do as part of several hobbies. I also formally studied the Thai language, spoken and written, as I lived with and later married a Thai woman. Not a big deal.... I am able to converse in a couple of other languages... Formal study is a great way to learn proper grammatical structure and something to build conversational skills on. By formal study, I mean attending language classes taught by a qualified instructor....
Thanks blunderbuss2!
It's a fantastic find Kevin, and I have no doubt about it's authenticity.
Thanks Karen!
Updated photos. It is a complex little piece, so I inset several closeup images.
Thanks for loving my Iwata jug iggy and Mrstyndall!
Thanks SEAN68, GeodeJem, MALKEY and kivatinitz!
Thanks ho2cultcha!
Thanks Vynil33rpm!
Thanks vcal!
Thank you rancherswife!
I had to look at this again too, Kevin!!!
Thanks, Karen! The only bad thing about this vase is that it is pretty delicate so I just keep it in its box. Someday, I will have a nice cabinet for my Iwata pieces.
Thanks, leesa3242!