Aichi Prefecture Intangible Cultural Property Holder Oe Bunsho (大江文象), Seto Ware Sake Cup with Plant Designs, Japanese-Style Shot Glass #505

This sake cup with plant designs is the work of Oe Bunsho (大江文象, 1898–1979), a potter of Seto ware born in Chita District, Aichi Prefecture, who combined a grounding in Japanese-style painting with ceramic skills refined under Kitaoji Rosanjin. As a child Oe studied Japanese-style painting under Kodera Undo. Oe was selected nine times in all for the Teiten, Bunten and Nitten exhibitions and in 1975 was designated holder of an Aichi Prefecture Intangible Cultural Property (craft technique: kushime-mon). Known as "Oe of the quails" for a mastery of animal and bird-and-flower subjects, the artist brings the same brush to this fingertip-sized surface. The signature "文象" (Bunsho) is written in cobalt blue inside the foot ring, and the fitted box bears the ink inscription "瑪瑙盃" (Agate Cup).

The form is a four-sided cup with rounded corners, its gently swelling body rising from a round foot ring. The pale yellowish glaze is covered with fine crazing, and a line of cobalt runs all the way around the rim. At each of the four corners a band of fine lattice pattern (higaki-mon) is painted in cobalt, framing the four faces like a picture frame. The interior is also shaped to four sides, and the glaze pools quietly there.

Each of the four faces carries a different cobalt design. The first face layers radiating clusters of leaves in dark cobalt along the top, from which fine lines and rows of dots hang downward. They can be read as drooping foliage or as raindrops falling from leaf tips, and this is the most densely brushed of the four faces. The second face is led by a single bold line bent in one sweep of a thick brush, with small star-like blossoms scattered around it. The crooked line suggests the trunk of an old plum tree, and white glaze has pooled around the blossoms so that they seem to glow. The third face shows a thin branch rising diagonally, strung with short leaves and dots like joints, with one long leaf laid across the lower part, suggesting a sprig of bamboo. It leaves the most empty space and is the quietest of the faces. The fourth face shows long leaves rising from the base and crossing one another, with a bud and a small flower cluster among them, suggesting an orchid. The long, fine lines drawn in a single breath show the sure hand of an artist trained in painting. No record states which plants are depicted; plum, bamboo and orchid are our own reading.

We offer this piece, with a mouth diameter of about 3.8 cm and a height of about 3.6 cm, as a "Japanese-style shot glass" for savoring small measures of aged sake, matured spirits and whisky. Each turn of the cup in the hand brings another scene into view, so that every sip can come with a different face.

• Artist: Oe Bunsho (大江文象, 1898–1979)
• Artist's Representative Career Highlights: [1898] Born in Chita District, Aichi Prefecture (now Chita City); [1933] first selected for the 14th Teiten (selected nine times in all for the Teiten, Bunten and Nitten); [1972] CBC Club Culture Award; [1975] designated holder of an Aichi Prefecture Intangible Cultural Property (craft technique: kushime-mon); [1979] died (aged 80)
• Public Collections: Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (Warisansho Mukozuke, c. 1940), Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto City (purchased for permanent preservation), and others
• Production Period: Showa era (exact date unknown; the artist died in 1979)
• Item Condition: Good (no chips, no cracks; the box shows age-related soiling and cracks from drying). Please regard the crazing that forms in firing, other characteristics of ceramics and the patina of age as part of the pleasure of an antique piece.
• Accessories: Fitted wooden box (ink inscription "瑪瑙盃")
• Material: Ceramic / Pottery (Seto ware, cobalt painting)
• Dimensions: Height approx. 3.6 cm, Mouth diameter approx. 3.8 cm
• Note: The items provided by our shop were produced a very long time ago and are all listed as pre-owned items. Please understand and confirm the age-related changes before considering your purchase.
• Please check the photos: We prepare every description with great care, but errors may still remain in the text. Please examine the photos carefully before purchasing. Where the photos and the description differ, please take the photos as the basis for the product information.