{"product_id":"takaoka-cast-bronze-leaf-tray-by-nishimura-yoshimitsu-with-tomobako","title":"Takaoka Cast Bronze Leaf Tray by Nishimura Yoshimitsu with Tomobako","description":"Experience Authentic Japan Art with this Japanese Bronze Art tray. This Cast Bronze Tray by Nishimura Yoshimitsu showcases Takaoka Bronze traditions as a Leaf Form Tray and Botanical Bronze sculpture. Featuring Bronze Casting mastery and Metal Art Japan heritage with a Signed Tomobako, this Traditional Craft piece from Toyama Metalwork lineage carries natural Bronze Patina—a distinguished Copper Art work for the discerning collector.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ Basic Details ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• Artist: Nishimura Yoshimitsu (西村義光)\u003cbr\u003e• Origin: Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture — Japan's foremost bronze casting center\u003cbr\u003e• Material: Cast bronze (鋳銅)\u003cbr\u003e• Form: Leaf-shaped tray (葉形盆)\u003cbr\u003e• Dimensions: 17.7 cm × 18.3 cm, height approx. 1.5 cm\u003cbr\u003e• Weight: 271 g\u003cbr\u003e• Period: 2010s\u003cbr\u003e• Condition: Good — natural patina development with some areas of discoloration typical of bronze aging. Surface shows warm copper-brown tones transitioning to lighter golden areas where oxidation has occurred. Structurally sound.\u003cbr\u003e• Provenance: Comes with tomobako (signed wooden box), artist's certificate, and protective silk cloth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ Cultural \u0026amp; Artistic Insight ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTakaoka bronze (高岡銅器) has been produced in Toyama Prefecture since 1611, when the Maeda clan invited seven casting masters to establish workshops in the castle town. Over four centuries, Takaoka developed specialized techniques in sand casting, wax casting, and metal finishing that distinguish its work from other Japanese bronze centers. Today it holds designation as a Traditional Craft by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNishimura Yoshimitsu works within this lineage, applying lost-wax casting methods to capture organic forms with precision. The leaf motif appears frequently in Japanese decorative arts — it signifies transience, seasonal awareness, and the beauty found in asymmetry. Here, the artist has rendered botanical detail faithfully: primary and secondary veins, natural curvature, even the subtle undulation of a fresh leaf translated into permanent bronze.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe patina visible on this piece develops through oxidation over time. Bronze interacts with air, moisture, and handling to create color shifts from warm copper-brown to verdigris green to soft gold. Collectors value this natural aging as evidence of material authenticity and passage through time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A single leaf, cast in metal, remembers the wind it will never feel again.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ Deep-Dive Commentary ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis tray occupies a space between functional object and sculptural art. It can serve tea sweets, display smaller art pieces, or simply exist as a study in casting technique. The decision to work in bronze — rather than ceramic or lacquer — commits the form to weight, permanence, and the slow transformation that only metal undergoes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLost-wax casting allows for detail impossible in direct sand molds. The artist first sculpts a master form in wax, capturing every vein and texture. This wax model is encased in refractory material, then heated until the wax melts away, leaving a void. Molten bronze fills this negative space, adopting the original's finest details. After cooling, the mold is broken away to reveal the cast bronze — a one-time transformation that cannot be repeated identically.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe accompanying tomobako and certificate authenticate the artist's hand and maintain the provenance chain essential to Japanese art collecting. These documents are not optional extras but integral components of the work's identity. Together with the piece itself, they form a complete record of creation, attribution, and custodianship.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe visible discoloration mentioned in condition notes should not be read as damage but as evidence of bronze's living relationship with its environment. Over months and years, the metal develops its own personality — areas handled more frequently retain warmer tones, while undisturbed zones shift toward cooler oxidation. This patina variation is considered aesthetically desirable in Japanese bronze appreciation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[ JAPANESE DESCRIPTION \/ 日本語解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e高岡銅器の伝統を継ぐ西村義光による鋳銅製の葉形盆。植物の葉をそのまま写し取ったような自然主義的な造形で、葉脈の細部まで鋳造によって再現されています。銅の温かみのある茶褐色に、経年による淡い金色の変色が加わり、金属ならではの時間の表情を見せています。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ 基本情報 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• 作者：西村義光\u003cbr\u003e• 産地：富山県高岡市（高岡銅器）\u003cbr\u003e• 素材：鋳銅\u003cbr\u003e• 形状：葉形盆\u003cbr\u003e• 寸法：17.7cm × 18.3cm、高さ約1.5cm\u003cbr\u003e• 重量：約271g\u003cbr\u003e• 状態：良好。自然な経年変色あり（銅の酸化による）。構造的に問題なし。\u003cbr\u003e• 付属品：共箱（義光作署名・印）、保証書、保護布\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ 文化的・芸術的背景 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e高岡銅器は1611年に加賀藩前田家が七人の鋳物師を招いて始まった伝統産業で、現在は経済産業大臣指定伝統的工芸品に認定されています。蝋型鋳造によって作られた本作は、型を壊して取り出す一度限りの鋳造法により、機械的な複製では得られない細部の表現を実現しています。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e葉の造形は日本の装飾美術において頻繁に登場するモチーフであり、無常観、季節への意識、そして非対称の美を象徴しています。作者は一次脈・二次脈の細部、自然な曲面、生きた葉の微妙なうねりまでを忠実に銅に写し取っています。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e🔹 [ 技術解説 ]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e付属の共箱には「義光作」の署名と印章があり、作家の真作であることを示しています。また、保証書と黄色の保護布も付属し、美術品としての来歴を保つために必要な一式が揃っています。\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e表面に見られる変色は銅の自然な酸化によるもので、日本の銅器鑑賞では時間の痕跡として評価される要素です。茶菓子を載せる実用の盆として、あるいは小品を飾る台として、または鋳造技術を観察する造形作品として、多様な用途に応える一品です。\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":61580257001842,"sku":"250311-a-1185","price":1334.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/5680\/3698\/files\/m77661408238_1.jpg?v=1770690297","url":"https:\/\/checkout.themodernzenarchive.com\/products\/takaoka-cast-bronze-leaf-tray-by-nishimura-yoshimitsu-with-tomobako","provider":"The Modern Zen Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}