{"product_id":"rikyu-ume-maki-e-large-tea-caddy-by-sakashita-yuho-yamanaka-lacquer-signed-box-new-unused","title":"Rikyu-ume Maki-e Large Tea Caddy by Sakashita Yuho — Yamanaka Lacquer, Signed Box, New Unused","description":"Experience Authentic Japan Art with this Japanese Tea Caddy. This Maki-e Lacquerware serves as a Japanese Tea Ceremony Tool and Lacquer Tea Container, featuring Rikyu-ume Plum Blossom Design and Yamanaka Lacquer Craft—a must-have for any Art Collector. This Signed Wooden Box piece represents Japanese Lacquer Art and Natsume Tea Caddy traditions, blending Gold Makie with Black Lacquer in a composition collectors of Chado Utensils will instantly recognize.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]\u003cbr\u003e• Artist: Sakashita Yuho (坂下雄峰), maki-e lacquer artist, Yamanaka (Kaga) tradition\u003cbr\u003e• Technique: Kuro roiro-nuri (mirror-polished black lacquer ground) with gold and vermilion nishiki-maki-e plum blossoms; raden (abalone shell inlay) accent on lid\u003cbr\u003e• Era: 2010 – 2019 (contemporary, new and unused)\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Yamanaka, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan — one of Japan's three great lacquerware centers\u003cbr\u003e• Form: O-natsume (large natsume tea caddy), classic rounded body with broad domed lid\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: Height approx. 7 cm, Diameter approx. 7 cm (standard large natsume proportions)\u003cbr\u003e• Box: Tomobako (artist's own signed wooden box) with outer washi wrapping intact\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: New and unused (shinpin miShiyou); stored long-term — please inspect photos carefully for any minor storage marks; overall presentation is pristine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ CULTURAL \u0026amp; ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]\u003cbr\u003eThe rikyu-ume motif — plum blossoms named in honor of Sen no Rikyu, the sixteenth-century master who elevated the tea ceremony into a philosophical practice — carries one of the most charged presences in all of chado. Rikyu chose the plum above the cherry: it blooms earliest, in the cold before spring fully arrives, solitary and unhurried. To place a rikyu-ume natsume on the daisu is to acknowledge that discipline, not display, is the heart of the path.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSakashita Yuho's execution here is precise without being cold. Against a kuro roiro ground polished to lacquer-mirror depth, clusters of gold hira-maki-e plum alternate with vermilion nishiki-maki-e blooms — the warm rust-red applied in a slightly raised, textured powder to catch light differently from the flat gold. On the lid, a single raden accent introduces abalone iridescence: a quiet disruption, like moonlight on black water. The composition is scattered (chirashi-haichi), avoiding symmetry, following the principle that nature does not arrange itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYamanaka lacquerware, produced in the mountain town of Yamanaka-Onsen in Ishikawa Prefecture, has for four centuries specialized in turned-wood forms of exceptional thinness and resonance. The woodturners and lacquer artists of Yamanaka developed a tradition of applying multiple layers of urushi to lightweight turned cores — the thinness itself a kind of virtuosity. An o-natsume from this tradition sits in the hand with surprising lightness; the lid lifts and seats with a softness that is part of the aesthetic calculus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePoetic line: \"The first plum opens before anyone is watching — not for admiration, but because it is time.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]\u003cbr\u003eThe natsume (named for its resemblance to the jujube fruit) is the most frequently encountered tea caddy form in thin-tea (usucha) practice, and yet within its deceptively simple silhouette lies a hierarchy of craft signals that experienced collectors read immediately. The o-natsume — large natsume — occupies the upper tier of the form, used in more formal settings or as a focal piece in seasonal display. Its broader proportions allow a more expansive decorative field, and artists like Sakashita Yuho use this space deliberately.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKuro roiro-nuri is among the most demanding of lacquer finishes. The process involves applying multiple coats of refined urushi (Rhus verniciflua sap), each layer requiring drying in a controlled-humidity chamber, followed by progressive polishing through increasingly fine abrasives — from natural stone to deer horn powder — until the surface achieves a depth that appears lit from within rather than merely reflective. A single fingerprint at the wrong stage can require starting over. The mirror-black ground of this natsume has the quality that Japanese aestheticians call nureba — lacquer-wet, as though freshly applied.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaki-e (literally, \"sprinkled picture\") encompasses a family of techniques in which metallic powders — gold, silver, tin, and their alloys — are dusted onto wet urushi drawn in a design, then sealed under subsequent lacquer layers and polished to varying degrees of relief and sheen. Hira-maki-e (flat maki-e) sits flush with the final surface; taka-maki-e (raised maki-e) builds the design in relief; nishiki-maki-e, used here for the red plum, is a variant in which colored powder (often vermilion lacquer ground) is applied in a way that creates a slightly textured, fabric-like surface — \"brocade maki-e.\" The alternation of gold hira-maki-e and red nishiki-maki-e in this piece is a considered choice: two surfaces, two temperatures of light, one motif.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRaden (螺鈿), the inlay of thin-cut abalone or mother-of-pearl shell into lacquer, has been practiced in Japan since the Nara period (eighth century), when techniques arrived via the Silk Road from Tang dynasty China. In Yamanaka work, raden is used sparingly — a restraint that amplifies its effect. The single iridescent accent on the lid of this natsume shifts through blue, green, and gold depending on the angle of light and the eye of the viewer: a material that cannot be reproduced in photography, which makes its presence an argument for handling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor a practitioner assembling a spring tea (haru no temae), or a collector building a seasonal display, this piece occupies a clear role: the rikyu-ume motif places it in the early-spring register (January through March in the ceremonial calendar), the scale announces formality without severity, and the pristine condition with original signed box ensures that it will pass through hands intact.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e---\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[ JAPANESE DESCRIPTION \/ 日本語解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 【基本スペック】\u003cbr\u003e・作家：坂下雄峰（山中塗・蒔絵師）\u003cbr\u003e・技法：黒蝋色塗地に金平蒔絵・朱錦蒔絵の利休梅文、蓋に螺鈿あしらい\u003cbr\u003e・年代：2010年代制作（現代作家作、新品未使用）\u003cbr\u003e・産地：石川県山中温泉（山中塗）— 日本三大漆器産地のひとつ\u003cbr\u003e・形状：大棗（利休形）、豊かな丸みと広い蓋が特徴\u003cbr\u003e・寸法：高さ約7cm、直径約7cm（大棗標準寸法）\u003cbr\u003e・箱：共箱（作家自筆箱書）・外装（和紙掛け）完備、未開封に近い状態\u003cbr\u003e・状態：新品未使用。長期保管品のため、写真にてご確認ください。全体的に非常に良好です\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 【文化・美術的解説】\u003cbr\u003e利休梅とは、十六世紀の茶聖・千利休が愛でたとされる梅の文様に由来する呼称です。利休が桜よりも梅を好んだのは、まだ寒さの残る早春に、ひとり静かに咲く梅の姿に「道」の本質を見たからだとされています。その梅文を纏う大棗を棚に飾ることは、技巧の誇示ではなく、修練の継続を表明することに他なりません。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e坂下雄峰の仕事は、その静かな主題に誠実です。鏡面のような黒蝋色塗の地に、金の平蒔絵と朱の錦蒔絵による梅花が散り配置されています。金は光を平らに受け、朱は織物のような微細な凹凸をつくり、同じ梅という形でありながら異なる温度の光を返します。蓋には一点の螺鈿——見る角度によって青から緑、金へと移ろうあの光——が埋め込まれており、黒に対する静かな異議申し立てのように存在しています。散らし配置は左右対称を避けており、自然が自らを整えないという認識に従っています。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e詩的一行：「誰も見ていないうちに、最初の梅が開く。見せるためではなく、ただ時が来たから。」\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 【上級解説：技法と様式】\u003cbr\u003e棗は薄茶の点前において最も頻繁に用いられる薄茶器ですが、その単純な形の中に、熟練した目がすぐに読み取る工芸的な階層が潜んでいます。大棗はその中でも改まった席や飾り棚の主役として用いられ、広い胴面が絵師に豊かな表現の場を与えます。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e黒蝋色塗は、漆芸における最も困難な仕上げのひとつです。精製された漆を何層にも重ね、湿度管理された室で乾燥させながら、天然砥石から鹿の角の粉末まで段階的に磨き上げていく工程は、一点の狂いも許しません。この棗の地は「濡れ場」——まるで今しがた塗り上げたような深みのある光沢——を持っています。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e蒔絵は「蒔き絵」の字義通り、湿った漆で描いた文様の上に金・銀・錫などの金属粉を蒔き、その後漆で固定・研磨する技法の総称です。本作に用いられた平蒔絵は地面と同一面に仕上げられた技法であり、錦蒔絵は朱漆などの色漆粉を使って布の織り目のような微細な質感を生み出す変形蒔絵です。二種の蒔絵を同じ梅のモチーフに交互に使う構成は、視覚的な単調さを避けながらも主題の統一を保つ、熟達した判断です。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e螺鈿は奈良時代（八世紀）にシルクロード経由で唐より伝来して以来、日本漆芸の中で独自の発展を遂げてきた技法です。山中塗の文脈では螺鈿の使用は抑制的であり、その節制が逆に存在感を高めます。この棗の蓋に埋め込まれた一点の螺鈿は、写真では再現できない変化を持ちます——それは「手に取る理由」でもあります。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e早春の取り合わせを組む実践者にとって、あるいは季節感のあるコレクションを構築するコレクターにとって、この大棗は明確な位置を占めます。利休梅の文様は睦月から弥生（一〜三月）の茶の季節感に属し、大棗の格は改まった席の存在感を宣言し、共箱完備の新品状態はこの作品が次の手にも完全な形で渡ることを保証します。\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":61795333767538,"sku":"260422_a_2749","price":1966.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m72557081311_1.jpg?v=1776868783","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/rikyu-ume-maki-e-large-tea-caddy-by-sakashita-yuho-yamanaka-lacquer-signed-box-new-unused","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}