Rosanjin Oribe Square Plate Set of Five with Crab Motif - Kitaoji Rosanjin Mukozuke Kaiseki Ware with Signed Tomobako

Experience Authentic Japan Art with this Rosanjin Oribe Square Plate. This Kitaoji Rosanjin Mukozuke serves as a Japanese Kaiseki Tableware and Oribe Ware Collectible, featuring Iron Red Crab Motif and Green Oribe Glaze—a must-have for any Japanese Art Collector seeking Authentic Mino Pottery with original Signed Wooden Tomobako Box.

🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]
- Artist: Kitaoji Rosanjin (北大路魯山人, 1883–1959)
- Technique: Oribe-yaki (織部焼) — green copper glaze with iron-oxide underglaze painting (tetsu-e)
- Era: Mid-20th century (Showa period, circa 1940s–1950s)
- Origin: Mino kilns, Gifu Prefecture / Kitakamakura studio lineage
- Dimensions: Height approx. 2.3 cm × Width approx. 11.5 cm × Depth approx. 11.5 cm (each plate)
- Quantity: Set of five (五客揃い)
- Box: Original signed paulownia tomobako (共箱) with hakogaki inscription "Oribe Kani-e Shihō-zara" and Rosanjin's seal (魯山人印)
- Condition: Very good vintage condition; minor kiln-born irregularities consistent with Rosanjin's intentional aesthetic; no chips or restorations observed

🔹 [ CULTURAL & ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]
Historical Context: Oribe ware emerged in the late Momoyama period (circa 1600) under the patronage of tea master Furuta Oribe, a disciple of Sen no Rikyū. Its bold asymmetry and vivid copper-green glaze broke decisively from the muted Rikyū aesthetic, embracing what later collectors called hyōge — playful eccentricity. Rosanjin revived this spirit in the 20th century, building his own kiln at Kitakamakura and treating Mino traditions as a living language rather than a museum relic.

Technique & Aesthetic: The deep copper-green glaze pools at one corner of each plate, allowed to drip and crawl across the white slip ground in deliberate imbalance. Against this, a single iron-red crab is brushed with rapid, confident strokes — a motif Rosanjin returned to throughout his career as a celebration of seasonal seafood and the kaiseki table. The four small kodai feet lift each square (shihō-zara) just enough to cast a shadow, giving the form a quiet architectural presence.

Philosophical Reflection: The green tide meets the pale shore; a small crab pauses between waves—stillness within the ephemeral feast.

🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]
Oribe ware is defined by three intertwined elements: the saturated copper-green (oribe-guro and ao-oribe) glaze, the white feldspathic slip ground, and the iron-painted underglaze decoration. Rosanjin's Mino works inherit this triad while sharpening each component — the green is more transparent, the iron drawing more calligraphic, the form deliberately squared in homage to Momoyama mukozuke.

The technique is achieved through a careful layering sequence. The biscuit-fired body is brushed with iron oxide for the motif, partially masked, then dipped or poured with copper-bearing glaze. A reduction firing around 1200°C transforms the copper into its characteristic deep emerald — a notoriously unstable color that demanded Rosanjin's exacting kiln control.

For collectors, the value lies in lineage and intent. Rosanjin was simultaneously a calligrapher, gourmand, and potter; his vessels were designed to hold specific foods at specific moments in the kaiseki meal. A set of five mukozuke is the canonical service size for tea cuisine, making this configuration both historically correct and immediately usable.

The crab motif (kani-e) carries seasonal weight — late autumn and winter in the Japanese culinary calendar — and Rosanjin's loose, almost cartoonish rendering reflects his belief that food vessels should welcome rather than intimidate. The signed tomobako, with its flowing hakogaki and impressed seal, anchors authentication and provenance.

Contemporary collectors regard Rosanjin's Oribe shihō-zara as among the most desirable post-war kaiseki wares, prized equally by Japanese tea practitioners and Western ceramic scholars.

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

🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]

🔹 [ 基本詳細 ]
- 作家: 北大路魯山人（きたおうじ ろさんじん, 1883–1959）
- 技法: 織部焼 — 銅緑釉と鉄絵による絵付け
- 時代: 昭和中期（昭和20〜30年代頃）
- 産地: 美濃窯系／北鎌倉星岡窯の系譜
- 寸法: 高さ約2.3cm × 横幅約11.5cm × 奥行約11.5cm（一客あたり）
- 員数: 五客揃い
- 共箱: 桐製共箱、箱書「織部蟹絵四方皿」および魯山人印あり
- 状態: 良好。魯山人特有の意図的な土味・歪みあり。欠け・直し見当たらず

🔹 [ 文化的・芸術的考察 ]
歴史的背景: 織部焼は桃山時代末期、千利休の高弟・古田織部の好みに端を発し、その大胆な歪みと鮮烈な銅緑釉は侘茶の枠を破る「ひょうげもの」として一時代を築きました。魯山人はこの精神を20世紀に蘇らせ、北鎌倉に自ら窯を築き、美濃の伝統を「生きた言語」として再解釈しました。

技法と美学: 深い銅緑釉が四方皿の一隅に流れ落ち、白い化粧土の地に景色を作ります。その対岸に、鉄絵で描かれた一匹の蟹が軽妙な筆致で配される——魯山人が生涯愛したモチーフであり、懐石の卓上を寿ぐ印でもあります。四隅の小さな高台が皿をわずかに持ち上げ、静かな建築的存在感を与えています。

哲学的省察: 緑の潮が白い磯辺に寄せ、波間に小さな蟹が立ちどまる——饗宴のうちの静けさ。

🔹 [ 詳細考察 ]
織部焼は、銅緑釉（織部黒・青織部）、白い長石化粧土、鉄絵という三要素の交差で定義されます。魯山人の美濃写しはこの三位一体を継承しつつ、緑をより透明に、鉄絵をより書のように、形を桃山向付に倣って意図的に四方に整えています。

技法は層構造です。素焼きの胎土に鉄絵で文様を描き、部分的に蝋抜きを施したのち、銅を含む灰釉を浸け掛けまたは流し掛けします。1200℃前後の還元焼成で銅が変化し、あの不安定で深い翠色が現れる——魯山人の精緻な窯焚き技術なくしては成立しない色です。

コレクター的価値は系譜と意図に宿ります。書家・美食家・陶芸家を兼ねた魯山人にとって、器は懐石の特定の瞬間と料理のために設計された道具でした。五客揃いの向付は懐石の正格であり、本作は歴史的に正しく、かつ即座に使える編成です。

蟹絵は晩秋から冬にかけての季語であり、魯山人の伸びやかでどこか戯画的な筆致は、「食器は威圧せず迎えるもの」という彼の信条を映します。流麗な箱書と印を備えた共箱が、伝来と真作性を確かなものにします。

現代のコレクターのあいだで、魯山人の織部四方皿は戦後懐石道具の最も求められる一群とされ、日本の茶人と欧米の陶芸研究者の双方から等しく評価されています。