A yukibuki (cylindrical lacquer caddy) in mirror-black lacquer by Otao Shigenori, its surface animated by a gold maki-e composition of weeping willow and arched bridge. The fine gold line work does not ornament the black — it inhabits it, the willow trailing across both body and lid as though the composition preceded the object.
[ DETAILS ] • Type: Yukibuki (cylindrical tea caddy) • Maker: 大多尾重則 (Otao Shigenori) • Decoration: Yanagibashi (willow and bridge) in gold maki-e on black lacquer • Provenance: Signed storage box with yellow cord • Dimensions: Height approx. 7.4 cm, diameter approx. 6.8 cm • Condition: Excellent; gold work crisp throughout
[ CULTURAL INSIGHT ] The willow and bridge composition carries multiple registers in Japanese aesthetics: the willow's yielding posture (flexibility before force), the bridge as passage between states, the gold line as the surviving trace of a moment the eye cannot hold. In the tea room, a yukibuki holds the powdered tea. The image on its surface is not incidental — it is chosen each time the caddy is placed in the tokonoma.
[ DEEP DIVE ] Otao Shigenori works within the high tradition of Kyoto maki-e where the composition is designed to read across the cylindrical form — no single viewpoint exhausts the image. The arched bridge appears at one angle, the trailing willow at another; the caddy rewards rotation. The contrast of matte gold line against glossy black lacquer is a technical choice as much as an aesthetic one: the eye must move, must search, to follow the image.
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ] • Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days • Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking) • Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
