Nakamura Suiran Yatsuhashi Chawan — Cobalt Blue Gold Iris Bridge Tea Bowl, Tomobako

Nakamura Suiran Yatsuhashi chawan — cobalt blue gold iris bridge tea bowl, Kyo-yaki overglaze enamel matcha bowl, Tales of Ise motif ceramics, Japanese tea ceremony bowl artist signed, luxury Kyoto ware chawan, antique gold painted tea bowl, collectible Japanese art pottery, tomobako signed ceramics. The iris stands where story becomes silence.

🔹 [ Basic Details ]
• Artist: Nakamura Suiran (中村翠嵐) — distinguished Kyo-yaki (Kyoto ware) master known for overglaze enamel
• Motif: Yatsuhashi (八ツ橋) — the iris-bridge scene from the Tales of Ise (Ise Monogatari, Episode 9)
• Technique: Porcelain body; deep cobalt blue ground glaze; gold overglaze enamel (kinrande) with white highlights
• Origin: Kyoto, Japan
• Dimensions: Height approx. 8.3 cm × Diameter approx. 12.6 cm
• Box: Tomobako (original signed wooden box, tied with blue ribbon)
• Condition: No chips, cracks, or enamel loss. Clean, well-preserved state.

🔹 [ Cultural & Artistic Insight ]
The Yatsuhashi motif — eight-plank iris bridge over a meandering stream — is among the most celebrated subjects in Japanese classical literature and art. It derives from the ninth episode of Ise Monogatari (The Tales of Ise), in which the poet-traveler Ariwara no Narihira composes a pivot-word poem at the bridge of Yatsuhashi, moved by the sight of irises blooming in the water. The motif has been central to Japanese decorative art for centuries — appearing in lacquerwork, screens, textiles, and ceramics.

Nakamura Suiran is a Kyoto-based potter whose work stands within the Kyo-yaki tradition of refined overglaze enamel. On this bowl, the gold iris, boardwalk, and water grasses emerge from a deep lapis-blue ground with extraordinary precision — each brushstroke a contained gesture, the composition wrapping continuously around the bowl's exterior and continuing into the interior.

🔹 [ Deep-Dive Commentary ]
The visual impact of this chawan is immediate: the deep cobalt blue — a color that reads as midnight sky or deep water — arrests attention before the motif is even understood. Then the motif unfolds: the diagonal golden boardwalk crossing the composition, iris flowers in gold and white rising from sinuous water-grass, the whole scene moving in measured rhythm around the bowl.

What distinguishes Suiran's work is the quality of the line. The gold overglaze enamel is applied with a brush of precise authority — not mechanical but not tentative. The white highlights within the iris blooms, visible in the close-up interior view, reveal the technique: white enamel laid first, then gold worked around it, creating dimensionality in the smallest flowers.

The interior carries the motif as well — seen from above, iris and bridge appear in the bowl's floor, transforming the space where matcha sits into a miniature garden. This is an unusual detail, suggesting the artist's intention for the bowl to be experienced from all angles, not only in the hand.

The form is Kyo-yaki in its precision: a clean, regular body, a well-proportioned foot ring unglazed and white. The height of 8.3 cm gives it a slightly taller register than standard, suited to the formality of the decoration.

For collectors of Kyo-yaki or classical Japanese literary motifs in ceramics, this bowl offers a complete statement: material excellence, iconographic depth, and the cultural gravity of one of Japan's most loved narratives.

【日本語説明】
🔹 [ 基本情報 ]
• 作者：中村翠嵐（京焼上絵付の名手）
• 絵柄：八ツ橋（伊勢物語第九段・燕子花図）
• 技法：磁器地・瑠璃釉・金彩上絵
• 寸法：高さ約8.3cm × 径約12.6cm
• 箱：共箱（青紐付き）
• 状態：欠け・割れ・絵剥げなし。良好。

🔹 [ 文化・芸術的背景 ]
八ツ橋は伊勢物語随一の場景——在原業平が東下りの途中、三河国の八橋で燕子花を眺め「かきつばた」の折句の歌を詠んだ名所。その美的記憶が金彩の筆で蘇ります。

🔹 [ コレクター向け解説 ]
見込みにも八ツ橋図が施され、抹茶を点てる碗の内に小さな庭が広がります。金彩の筆致は迷いなく確か。コバルト地と金の対比は展示映えし、使用時の美しさと同様に鑑賞の対象となる一碗です。

🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ]
• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days
• Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking)
• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials