Certified Preserver of Craft Techniques, Miyanaga Tozan II (Miyanaga Tomoo): Ruri-Glazed Gilt Lobed Confectionery Bowl with Jindai Moji Inscription, Kashiki / Kashibachi / Fruit Bowl #486

This is a "Ruri-Glazed Gilt Confectionery Bowl with Shinji (Divine Characters)" by Miyanaga Tozan II (given name Miyanaga Tomoo, 1907–1995), the second-generation head of the Miyanaga Tozan Kiln, one of the distinguished names of Kyoto ceramics (Kyo-yaki). The entire vessel is covered in a deep lapis-blue ruri glaze, and the interior is inscribed in gold with a single line of Jindai moji, the so-called "characters of the Age of the Gods." This lobed bowl comes with its Tomobako (the original wooden box bearing the artist's ink inscription and red seal) and its Tomonuno (the original cloth wrapper bearing a red seal). Carrying on the celadon, blue-and-white (sometsuke), and polychrome enamel wares produced since the first generation, Miyanaga Tozan II excelled in fine tableware and came to be known as "Tozan of Tableware." This piece exemplifies the refined tableware style of the second generation.

The history of the Miyanaga Tozan Kiln begins with Miyanaga Tozan I (given name Miyanaga Gotaro, 1868–1941). Born into a samurai family of the Daishoji Domain in Ishikawa Prefecture, Tozan I served as assistant to Okakura Tenshin, principal of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, and took part in surveys of art institutions in Western countries. He later worked at the Provisional Office for the Paris Exposition Universelle of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce and was dispatched to Paris, where he became acquainted with Kinkozan Sobei VII. After returning to Japan, he moved to Kyoto, became artistic adviser to the Kinkozan workshop, and devoted himself to the reform of Meiji-era Kyoto ceramics. In 1903 (Meiji 36), he joined Yutoen, Japan's first society for the study of ceramic design, founded through the initiative of the ceramic chemist Nakazawa Iwata and the Western-style painter Asai Chu. In 1909 (Meiji 42), he built the Tozan Kiln at Fukakusa, at the foot of Mount Inari in Fushimi. The art name "Tozan" was chosen by his friend Koda Rohan, with whom he had shared lodgings for about two years while studying at the Tokyo French Language School; Rohan took it from the phrase in Mencius, "Confucius ascended the Eastern Mountain." During the Showa era, his works "Two-Color Glazed Vase" and "Pale Celadon Pentagonal Vase with Floral Design" were selected for the Imperial Art Academy Exhibition (Teiten), and from the 14th exhibition onward he was granted mukansa status, exempting him from jury screening. Celadon was his greatest specialty, and he was known as "Tozan of Celadon."

Miyanaga Tozan II was born in Kyoto in August 1907 (Meiji 40), the son of Tozan I. After attending Kyoto First Middle School, he graduated from the Design Department of the Kyoto Higher School of Arts and Crafts in 1930 (Showa 5). In 1935 (Showa 10), he completed the training course at the National Ceramics Testing Institute, where he carried out research on feldspar, among other subjects. During this period he also studied under Numata Ichiga, and Yagi Kazuo was among his fellow pupils. In 1939 (Showa 14), his work was selected for the 3rd Ministry of Education Art Exhibition (Bunten), and in December 1941 (Showa 16), following the sudden death of Tozan I, he succeeded to the name as Tozan II. In 1943 (Showa 18), he was certified as a Preserver of Craft Techniques under the national system established during wartime. After the war, he served as a member of the Kinki regional committee for the national certification of traditional craftsmen. From 1955 (Showa 30), he studied the tea ceremony under Yurinsai, grand master of the Mushakojisenke (Kankyuan) school, and in 1960 (Showa 35), he took part in founding the Kyoto Traditional Ceramic Artists Association, later serving as its vice president. From 1964 (Showa 39) to 1990 (Heisei 2), he lectured at the Sen Chado Bunka Gakuin (Sen Tea Culture Institute), and from 1975 (Showa 50) onward he traveled widely around the world, gaining extensive knowledge of the ceramics and antiquities of the Middle East and the Mediterranean coast in particular. He passed away in March 1995 (Heisei 7).

The Miyanaga Tozan name has been passed on to Miyanaga Rikichi (born 1935), the eldest son of Tozan II. In 1970 (Showa 45), Rikichi joined Sodeisha, the avant-garde ceramic artists' group, and is known for works that pursue sculptural form. The Miyanaga family has been engaged in ceramics for more than 120 years. In addition, a great many works by Tozan II and by the Tozan Kiln, made up to his death, were preserved at the family home through the efforts of his wife, Keiko. As a valuable body of material on postwar Kyoto ceramics, these works have been studied by the Kyoto Modern Ceramics Research Group, composed of ceramic historians, curators, and potters based in the Kansai region, and made public as the "Miyanaga Tozan Kiln Ceramics Database."

The technique most highly esteemed at the Miyanaga Tozan Kiln is celadon, as the epithet "Tozan of Celadon" given to the first generation attests. The second generation, in addition to celadon, was called "Tozan of Tableware" for his fine tableware, including blue-and-white and polychrome enamel wares. This piece is not celadon but a work of fine tableware in the polychrome family, executed in ruri glaze and gold, and it clearly displays the quality of craftsmanship in tableware that was the true hallmark of the second generation. The interior and exterior are evenly covered in a deep ruri glaze with little variation, giving a strong luster. The rim is lobed, formed by notches cut into its edge, and is encircled by a gilt band. A single ridge runs around the inside of the rim; because the glaze thins over this ridge, a bright blue line emerges against the deep lapis of the vessel, outlining the lobed contour from within. In the interior, a line of characters drawn in slender, flowing strokes is applied in overglaze gold. The design is restrained and refined, with gold lines glowing against the dark blue ground; by confining the decoration to a single line in the interior, the composition heightens the depth of the ruri glaze. The foot ring is carved relatively tall; the area within it is glazed in ruri, with an oval "Tozan" kiln mark written in gold at the center. The white clay body is visible on the inner side of the foot ring, contrasting with the ruri glaze.

As the word "Shinji" (divine characters) in the inscriptions on the Tomobako and the paper label indicates, the characters in the interior are Jindai moji (characters of the Age of the Gods). Jindai moji is the collective term for scripts that have been claimed to have existed in Japan before the introduction of Chinese characters. Several types are known, including Hifumi, Anaichi, and Ahiru, and most of them are phonetic scripts in which each character represents a single sound. Theories that ancient Japan possessed its own script can be found as early as the Kamakura period, but debate became especially lively in the Edo period. In the late Edo period, the Kokugaku (National Learning) scholar Hirata Atsutane argued for their authenticity in Shinji Hifumi Den, while Ban Nobutomo put forward a dissenting view in Kana no Motosue, giving rise to controversy. Modern Japanese linguistics regards all Jindai moji as later creations. The term "Shinji" used in the box inscription is a traditional name for Jindai moji, also seen in the title of Atsutane's work. That Miyanaga Tozan II, who was also versed in the tea ceremony, adopted such characters as a design for fine tableware gives this piece its distinctive rarity.

The characters on this piece are written in a cursive style of linked curves, with ten characters arranged in a single line. No character form appears twice among the ten. The content of the inscription is not recorded on the Tomobako or in any accompanying material, and no reading based on comparison with a character table has been established. With that caveat, we would add our own conjecture: the inscription may record "hi fu mi yo i mu na ya ko to," the ten opening sounds of the Hifumi Norito (Hifumi prayer). There are two grounds for this. First, all ten characters differ in form, which matches these ten sounds, none of which is repeated. Second, as the name of one type of Jindai moji, "Hifumi," suggests, Jindai moji have been handed down in association with the sound sequence "hi fu mi."

"Hi fu mi yo i mu na ya ko to" is formed by placing in order the initial sounds of the native Japanese numerals from one to ten: "hito, futa, mi, yo, itsu, mu, nana, ya, kokono, to." The Hifumi Norito, which begins with these ten sounds, is a prayer composed of forty-seven sounds, each used once without repetition, and it has been chanted within Shinto-related traditions. If this conjecture is correct, the interior of this piece bears, in gold, a celebratory phrase counting the numbers from one to ten. Please note, however, that this is our conjecture based on features such as the number and forms of the characters, and it should be regarded as a reference only.

The accompanying Tomobako is made of cedar; the lid bears the title in ink and the signature "Tozan zo" (made by Tozan), with an oval red seal reading "Tozan." The Tomonuno that wraps the bowl is likewise stamped with the same oval red "Tozan" seal. On the side of the box remains a paper label (price tag) inscribed in ink with "Tozan" and "Shinji Kashibachi" (Confectionery Bowl with Divine Characters), together with a price in the two-hundred-yen range, written beginning with "two hundred" in the old-style formal numeral. As this is a work by Miyanaga Tozan II, it dates from after December 1941 (Showa 16), when he succeeded to the name. Furthermore, based on the price level on this label, we estimate that it was sold in the postwar period, between the Showa 20s and the first half of the Showa 30s (approximately 1945 to the late 1950s).

With a height of approx. 7.0 cm and a diameter of approx. 21.5 cm, this is a fairly shallow bowl of generous proportions. Beyond its use as a kashiki for serving wagashi and higashi (dry confections), it can also hold nuts, chocolates, or seasonal fruit while enjoying aged spirits or whisky. The contrast of deep ruri blue and gold grows richer still under lighting. This is a piece of Kyoto ceramics rarely introduced overseas, conveying the history of the Miyanaga Tozan Kiln and the fine tableware of its second generation.

• Artist: Miyanaga Tozan II (宮永 東山、1907–1995) / Given name: Miyanaga Tomoo（宮永 友雄）
• Selected Career Highlights: [1930] Graduated from the Design Department, Kyoto Higher School of Arts and Crafts; [1935] Completed the training course at the National Ceramics Testing Institute (studied under Numata Ichiga); [1939] Selected for the 3rd Bunten; [1941] Succeeded to the name Miyanaga Tozan II; [1943] Certified as a Preserver of Craft Techniques; [1955] Began studying the tea ceremony under Yurinsai, grand master of Mushakojisenke; [1960] Took part in founding the Kyoto Traditional Ceramic Artists Association (later Vice President); [1964] Lecturer at the Sen Chado Bunka Gakuin (until 1990); [1968] Three-person exhibition of Miyanaga Tozan, his wife Keiko, and Rikichi at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, Tokyo; [1983] Exhibition of Miyanaga Tozan and Rikichi at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, Tokyo; [1987] Exhibited in "Currents of the Modern Era: Nihonga and Crafts of Kyoto," Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
• Public Collections: No record of holdings in public institutions has been confirmed (works by Tozan II and the Tozan Kiln have been studied by the Kyoto Modern Ceramics Research Group and published as the "Miyanaga Tozan Kiln Ceramics Database")
• Date: Showa period (after Tozan II's succession to the name in December 1941; estimated from the price on the label to be postwar, between the Showa 20s and the first half of the Showa 30s)
• Condition: Good (no notable chips or cracks; age-related wear to the gilding on the rim)
• Included: Tomobako (ink inscription "Tozan zo," oval red seal "Tozan," price label on the side), Tomonuno (oval red seal "Tozan")
• Medium: Ceramic (ruri glaze, gilding)
• Dimensions: Height approx. 7.0 cm, diameter approx. 21.5 cm
• Please Note: All items offered by our shop, even if new and unused, were produced a very long time ago and are therefore listed as pre-owned. Items may show damage from age; please understand and review this before considering your purchase.