{"product_id":"genji-monogatari-maki-e-hira-natsume-by-nishimura-kohou-kyoto-lacquer-tea-caddy-with-court-scene-and-saaya-pattern-tier-1-signed-tomobako","title":"Genji Monogatari Maki-e Hira-Natsume by Nishimura Kohou - Kyoto Lacquer Tea Caddy with Court Scene and Saaya Pattern - Tier 1 Signed Tomobako","description":"Experience authentic Japanese tea culture with this Genji Monogatari Maki-e Hira-Natsume by Nishimura Kohou. This Japanese Tea Caddy serves as a Kyoto Maki-e masterpiece and Heian Court Lacquer Container, featuring Tale of Genji Gold Maki-e artistry and Saaya Geometric Brocade Pattern—a must-have for any Art Collector seeking authentic Zen Tea Accessories.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• Artist: Nishimura Kohou (西村弘峰)\u003cbr\u003e• Technique: Kyoto maki-e on black kuro-urushi ground, hira-natsume form, gold takamaki-e Genji Monogatari fan-panel scene, gold saaya brocade pattern, scattered nashiji gold flecks\u003cbr\u003e• Era: Heisei period (contemporary, late 20th–early 21st century)\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Kyoto, Japan – Kyoto urushi maki-e tradition\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: Diameter approx. 7.5 cm × Height approx. 5.5 cm (3.0\" × 2.2\")\u003cbr\u003e• Box: Tomobako (artist-signed wooden box, slight staining on box exterior) with cord\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: Pristine – no scratches, soiling, or repairs to the natsume itself\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ CULTURAL \u0026amp; ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNishimura Kohou (西村弘峰) is among the most respected of Kyoto's contemporary maki-e masters, working in a lineage that stretches from the Heian court ateliers through the great Edo studios of Kōrin and Kōetsu. His Genji Monogatari series – where scenes from Murasaki Shikibu's eleventh-century novel are condensed onto the lid of a tea caddy – is widely considered one of his signature subjects, and pieces from the series sit in private collections in Japan, Europe and the United States.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe form here is hira-natsume (平棗) – the low, broad variant whose flattened lid gives the maki-e artist a more painterly canvas than the standard rounded form allows. On that lid, framed inside a fan-shaped (ōgi-mon) panel, a court scene unfolds: a noble figure seated on tatami within a brushed gold interior, attendant to one side, the geometric blinds and verandah of a Heian residence rendered in graded gold takamaki-e. The fan border alone is a small masterpiece – every fold suggested by a single line of higher-relief gold.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAround the panel, scattered hirame-flecks of gold catch light at random, and the wider body carries lozenges of saaya (紗綾形) brocade pattern in flat gold. Together the motifs cite both the textiles of the Heian court and the courtly culture in which the Tale of Genji was first written and read aloud.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*\"A thousand years compressed into the span of a closed hand – this is what Kyoto lacquer was always for.\"*\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**The Genji Subject**: The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari, c. 1008) is the oldest psychological novel in world literature and the deepest source of imagery in Japanese decorative art. Of its 54 chapters, certain scenes – the Wakana spring picnic, the Suma exile, the Kashiwagi music night – became canonical maki-e subjects from the Edo period onward. The scene chosen here, set within an interior with attendant figure, draws on this codified visual library while remaining the artist's individual composition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Saaya Pattern Significance**: The saaya-gata (紗綾形) – a continuous interlocking 卍 (manji) lattice – is one of the highest-status court patterns in the Japanese textile vocabulary, historically reserved for kosode worn by women of the aristocracy. To carry it on a natsume is to make a quiet but unmistakable statement about register: this is a tea caddy that belongs in formal temae, paired with comparable utensils.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Layered Maki-e Technique**: Look closely at the figure on the lid. The robes are built up in successive layers of takamaki-e (raised maki-e) so that each fold catches light from a slightly different angle; the woman's coiffure is rendered in a thinner, blacker urushi than the ground; the gold is not a single flat tone but a controlled gradation. This is not decoration – it is painting in three-dimensional gold.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e**Collector Significance**: A Tier 1 acquisition. Hira-natsume by recognised Kyoto maki-e masters with intact tomobako and Genji-class subjects routinely appear in major auction catalogues and museum acquisitions. This piece offers the same level of work at a private-collection price point.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e【基本情報】\u003cbr\u003e• 作家：西村弘峰（にしむら こうほう）\u003cbr\u003e• 技法：京蒔絵 - 黒漆地に金高蒔絵、平棗形、源氏物語扇面図、紗綾形地紋、平目散らし\u003cbr\u003e• 時代：平成\u003cbr\u003e• 産地：京都\u003cbr\u003e• 寸法：径約7.5cm × 高さ約5.5cm\u003cbr\u003e• 付属：共箱（箱にシミあり）、紐付\u003cbr\u003e• 状態：本体は極上（傷・汚れ・直しなし）\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e【解説】\u003cbr\u003e西村弘峰は、京都を代表する現代蒔絵作家のひとり。源氏物語をモチーフとする一連の作品は氏の代表作として国内外の蒐集家に求められており、本作はその系譜に連なる平棗です。平棗は蓋面が広く、蒔絵作家にとってより絵画的な画面を許す形式で、こうした物語意匠との相性が特に良いとされます。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e蓋面には、扇面の枠の中に源氏物語の宮中の一場面が高蒔絵で展開。御簾と几帳の奥に座す貴人と侍女、簾越しの庭の暗示、扇の折り目を一筋の高蒔絵線で表現する精緻さなど、見るほどに細部が立ち上がる構成です。胴には紗綾形の地紋と平目散らしが配され、平安王朝の織物の世界観を全体として再現しています。蓋を閉じた瞬間、千年の物語が掌中に収まるような風格を持つ、Tier 1にふさわしい一品。共箱・紐付、本体は極上の状態です。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ SHIPPING \u0026amp; PACKAGING ]\u003cbr\u003e• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days\u003cbr\u003e• Carrier: Japan Post EMS \/ UPS (with tracking)\u003cbr\u003e• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*Murasaki Shikibu wrote her novel by candlelight in a Kyoto room very like the one painted here in gold. The lid is small. The world inside it is not.*","brand":"The Modern Zen Archive","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":61818852311410,"sku":"260429_a_2789","price":1196.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m98188628381_1.jpg?v=1777478547","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/genji-monogatari-maki-e-hira-natsume-by-nishimura-kohou-kyoto-lacquer-tea-caddy-with-court-scene-and-saaya-pattern-tier-1-signed-tomobako","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}