{"product_id":"koike-toshio-seiho-wajima-nuri-raden-grass-motif-natsume-tea-caddy","title":"Koike Toshio Seiho Wajima-nuri Raden Grass Motif Natsume Tea Caddy","description":"Experience Authentic Japanese Lacquerware with this Wajima Lacquerware Natsume. This Koike Toshio creation serves as a Raden Inlay masterpiece and Botanical Motif Tea Caddy, featuring Mother Of Pearl accents and Maki-e Decoration — a must-have for any Tea Ceremony collector seeking Ishikawa Prefecture Lacquer Art and Traditional Craft with Signed Tomobako.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e🔹 BASIC DETAILS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• Artist: Koike Toshio (小池敏夫), art name Seiho (静峯)\u003cbr\u003e• Craft: Wajima-nuri (輪島塗)\u003cbr\u003e• Form: Natsume (tea caddy)\u003cbr\u003e• Technique: Maki-e and raden (mother-of-pearl inlay) on black lacquer\u003cbr\u003e• Motif: Kusa-mon (草文 — grass\/plant pattern with berries)\u003cbr\u003e• Era: Contemporary\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: H 6.5 cm × W 6.7 cm (H 2.6\" × W 2.6\"), Weight 44g\u003cbr\u003e• Box: Signed tomobako with striped cord\u003cbr\u003e• Accessories: Protective cloth\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: Excellent — no chips, cracks, or cloudiness\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e🔹 CULTURAL \u0026amp; ARTISTIC INSIGHT\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWajima-nuri from Ishikawa Prefecture represents one of Japan's most esteemed lacquerware traditions, known for its exceptional durability and refinement. This natsume by Koike Toshio (Seiho) demonstrates the master's facility with both maki-e (gold lacquer painting) and raden (mother-of-pearl inlay) — a combination that requires precise control of materials and timing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe grass motif (kusa-mon) features green-toned leaves rendered with gold veining and stems, accompanied by small pink and lavender berries executed in raden. The naturalistic botanical quality — neither strictly formal nor entirely free — suggests a cultivated simplicity. The berries, rendered in iridescent shell, catch light as the caddy turns in the hand. The body remains plain black lacquer, allowing the lid's decoration to hold full attention.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*Mother-of-pearl catches what gold cannot hold.*\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e🔹 DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRaden inlay in Japanese lacquerware dates to the Nara period (8th century), transmitted from Tang China but refined into distinctly Japanese expressions. The technique involves cutting thin sheets of abalone or other shells, shaping them to fit the design, embedding them into wet lacquer, and polishing the surface flush. The iridescence of shell introduces a material quality that maki-e alone cannot achieve — a cool luminosity against lacquer's warm depth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKoike Toshio's rendering demonstrates botanical observation without botanical illustration. The leaves bend and overlap with natural irregularity; the berries cluster in small groups rather than symmetrical arrangements. This restraint aligns with tea aesthetics, where decoration supports rather than dominates function.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWajima-nuri's reputation rests on technical foundation: multiple undercoats (up to 30+ layers), jinoko powder for reinforcement, and extended drying periods. The resulting lacquer surface achieves exceptional hardness and moisture resistance. For tea practitioners, this durability matters — natsume endure frequent handling and humid storage across generations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe signed tomobako authenticates the work. The inscription \"螺鈿装飾 草文 棗 静峯\" documents technique, motif, and form. In tea culture, the tomobako participates in the ritual of unwrapping and display.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e🔹 日本語解説\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e輪島塗・小池敏夫（号:静峯）作の棗。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• 作家: 小池敏夫（静峯）\u003cbr\u003e• 産地: 石川県輪島（輪島塗）\u003cbr\u003e• 技法: 蒔絵・螺鈿\u003cbr\u003e• 意匠: 草文（草花と実）\u003cbr\u003e• 寸法: 高さ6.5cm × 幅6.7cm、重さ44g\u003cbr\u003e• 共箱: 「螺鈿装飾 草文 棗 静峯」銘\u003cbr\u003e• 状態: 優良 — 欠け・ヒビ・くもりなし\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e蒔絵と螺鈿による草文様。緑と金の葉に螺鈿の小さな実が添えられ、輪島塗特有の堅牢さと植物表現の自然な柔らかさが共存。螺鈿は鮑貝を薄く削って精密にカットし、漆に埋め込んだもので、蒔絵だけでは得られない虹色の輝きを加えます。胴は無地の黒漆で、蓋の装飾に視線を集中させる構成です。\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","brand":"The Modern Zen Archive","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":61580244320626,"sku":"250127-a-1080","price":1132.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m98921353414_1.jpg?v=1770689126","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/koike-toshio-seiho-wajima-nuri-raden-grass-motif-natsume-tea-caddy","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}