The lacquer surface does not depict dawn. It becomes it.
🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ] • Artist: Domyo Soko (Munenobu Workshop) with Tachibana Daiki authentication • Origin: Kyoto, Japan • Material: Urushi lacquer with vermilion-to-black akebono gradation, gold maki-e • Motif: Tsuru-kame (crane and turtle) — longevity and dawn (Akebono) • Era: 1990s • Box: Tomobako (artist's wooden presentation box) • Condition: Good, carefully inspected
🔹 [ Cultural & Artistic Insight ] From deepest ink-black at the base, the urushi climbs through a seamless, breathless gradient into vivid vermilion — the precise moment before the sun clears the horizon. That transition, neither fully night nor yet day, is what the Japanese call akebono. Domyo Soko of the Munenobu Workshop has held it in his hands and set it still.
On the lid, worked in restrained gold maki-e: a crane in flight above an ancient tortoise, its shell rendered in the geometric precision of traditional lacquer. Tsuru-kame — crane and turtle — two emblems that have meant longevity in Japan for more than a thousand years. Here, they float on vermilion as though dawn itself had summoned them.
The form is choju natsume — the "long-life caddy" — a deliberately auspicious shape chosen for celebratory and New Year tea ceremonies. Nothing in this object is accidental.
🔹 [ Deep-Dive Commentary ] [ THE MAKER ] Domyo Soko (道場宗廣) trained within the Munenobu Workshop (宗廣工房), one of Kyoto's respected lineages of lacquerware for the tea ceremony. His work is characterized by technical precision in urushi gradation and a refined restraint in decorative motif — qualities that place this caddy firmly in the tradition of formal chakai utensil-making.
[ THE AUTHENTICATION ] The tomobako bears a sealed inscription and authentication by Tachibana Daiki (立花大亀, 1899–2005), the late abbot of Jui-an at Daitokuji Murase in northern Kyoto. Tachibana Roshi was one of the most respected Rinzai Zen masters of the twentieth century — a calligrapher, tea practitioner, and cultural authority whose written authentication (hakogaki) on a piece of chakaido-mono carries lasting scholarly and ceremonial weight. To hold his seal on the box is to hold a direct line to Daitokuji's unbroken tradition of tea culture. Authentication of this quality does not appear on ordinary objects.
[ CONDITION ] Excellent condition. The lacquer surface retains its full depth and gloss; the akebono gradation is vivid and undimmed. The crane-turtle maki-e is crisply defined. Original tomobako present with Tachibana Daiki's hakogaki and authentication seal. Shifuku (protective silk bag) included.
[ SPECIFICATIONS ] Height: approx. 7 cm / 2.8 in Diameter: approx. 7.3 cm / 2.9 in Weight: approx. 64 g / 2.3 oz Medium: Urushi lacquer on wood (vermilion to black akebono graduation, gold maki-e) Motif: Tsuru-kame (crane and turtle, longevity) Authentication: Tachibana Daiki (Daitokuji Murase, Jui-an), hakogaki Includes: Original tomobako (paulownia box), shifuku
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ] • Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days • Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking) • Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
