This is a "Kurisutaru Chawan" (crystal tea bowl) by the glass artist Mitsuru Kagami. The front of the tomobako (the wooden box signed by the artist) bears an ink inscription that reads "Kurisutaru Chawan," together with the artist's signature, "Mitsuru," and a red seal. Our shop proposes this vessel, originally made as a tea bowl, as an ice dish for serving ice alongside whisky and other Western spirits. This mitate, the Japanese practice of giving a vessel a new role, makes the most of its wide mouth and shallow form. It is equally suited to serving snacks with drinks, sweets, or small portions of Japanese cuisine.
After studying in the Department of Sculpture at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, Mitsuru Kagami joined Kagami Crystal Works (today's Kagami Crystal) in 1943 (Showa 18). The company had been founded in 1934 (Showa 9) by Kozo Kagami as Japan's first factory dedicated to crystal glass. After repeated selections for the Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition) and the Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition, Mitsuru Kagami withdrew from open-call exhibitions in 1966 (Showa 41) and became an independent artist. In the 1980s, he exhibited as an invited artist in exhibitions held at institutions including the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, and the Suntory Museum of Art. He also took part in "Japon des avant-gardes 1910–1970," held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from 1986 into the following year.
The Corning Museum of Glass in the United States holds a tea bowl and a mizusashi (fresh-water jar for the tea ceremony), both made around 1981 at the Kagami Crystal factory. According to the museum's records, both are made of colorless lead glass and formed by free-blowing. Their design features wavy lines of color rising from the base toward the rim, overlaid with spotted gold leaf, and they are finished without a pontil mark on the base.
The same approach to form can be seen in this piece. On translucent glass with a pale yellow tint, color ranging from reddish purple to reddish brown spreads from around the foot ring across the lower half of the body. Its irregular contours evoke flames or flower petals, and the color fades softly as it approaches the rim. This composition, with color rising from the base toward the rim, follows the same direction as the works in the museum's collection. The surface has a matte texture inside and out, and countless fine bubbles are dispersed throughout the glass, appearing to sparkle gold as they catch the light.
The rim undulates gently in an irregular outline, forming a soft-cornered polygon when viewed from above. It has been finished with its thickness retained, and when held up to the light its cross-section glows brightly. The low foot ring has been cut out, and both the tatamitsuki (the resting surface of the foot ring) and the base have been ground flat. Concentric grinding marks remain on the base, and no pontil mark can be seen. Small granules of reddish-brown colored glass are scattered near the foot ring. We refrain from stating the method used to create the matte finish, whether gold leaf has been used, or the forming technique, as these cannot be determined with certainty from external appearance.
The period of production has been estimated from the accompanying shiori (the artist's biographical leaflet). The telephone number of Kagami Crystal Co., Ltd. printed on the leaflet is in the seven-digit Tokyo format, which predates the change of Tokyo telephone numbers to eight digits on January 1, 1991. In addition, the final entry in the artist's biography is dated Showa 62 (1987). On these two grounds, we have determined that the leaflet was printed between 1987 and 1990. As this piece has been passed down together with the leaflet, we estimate that it was made in the same period.
- Artist: Mitsuru Kagami (1918–1999)
- Selected Career Highlights: [1941] Graduated from the Department of Sculpture, Tokyo School of Fine Arts, and entered the Ministry of Education's Industrial Arts Technical Training Institute as a member of its first class; [1943] Joined Kagami Crystal Works; [1951] Received the Kanagawa Prefecture Best Design Award (subsequently selected 15 times for the crafts section of the Nitten and 3 times for the Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition); [1966] Ceased submitting to open-call exhibitions and became an independent artist, thereafter holding solo exhibitions every year in various locations; [1980] Exhibited as an invited Japanese artist in "Contemporary Glass: Europe & Japan," the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; [1981] Exhibited as an invited Japanese artist in the "Today's Glass" exhibition: Australia, Canada, the United States and Japan, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; [1982] Exhibited as a specially invited Japanese artist in "World Glass Now," Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art; [1983] Exhibited as an invited artist in "Contemporary Japanese Crafts: Their Course and Development," Fukui Prefectural Museum of Modern Art; [1986] Exhibited as an invited artist in "300 Years of Japanese Glass," Suntory Museum of Art, and in "Japon des avant-gardes 1910–1970," Centre Pompidou, Paris; [1987] Exhibited as an invited artist in "The World of Glass," Iwataya, Kurume; [2023] Works shown in "The Origins of Japanese Modern Glass," Toyama Glass Art Museum (posthumous)
- Museum Collections: Corning Museum of Glass (USA)
- Period of Production: c. 1987–1990 (estimated from the printing period of the accompanying leaflet)
- Condition: Good (no chips, no cracks; fine scuffs, mainly on the mikomi, the interior well)
- Accessories: Tomobako (wooden box signed by the artist), wrapping cloth, and shiori (biographical leaflet) included
- Material: Glass (inscribed "kurisutaru," meaning crystal, on the tomobako)
- Dimensions: Height approx. 5.0 cm, Width approx. 14.3 cm
- Notice: All items offered by our shop, even those that are new and unused, were produced a very long time ago and are therefore listed as pre-owned. Items may show age-related wear or damage. Please understand this and review the details carefully before deciding to purchase.
