A Kyo-yaki chawan by Yamaoka Shozo, decorated with bold black-glazed roundels enclosing auspicious motifs — crane in flight, rising sun, plum blossom — rendered in gold against a cream ground. The density of intention in each medallion reflects the ceremonial imagination of Kyoto's ceramic tradition at its most declarative.
📐 BASIC DETAILS • Artist: Yamaoka Shozo (山岡昇造) • Ware: Kyo-yaki (京焼) • Type: Matcha chawan (抹茶碗) • Decoration: Black overglaze with gold-outlined crane, sunrise, and plum medallions • Condition: Some crazing (kanyuu) present; overall condition good • Tomobako: Included (signed wooden box) • Seal: Confirmed
🏛 CULTURAL INSIGHT The motif vocabulary here — tsuru (crane), hinode (sunrise), ume (plum) — belongs to Japan's oldest register of auspiciousness. In the context of the tea gathering, these symbols do not merely decorate; they orient the moment. The circular medallion form (丸紋, marumon) concentrates each motif into a self-contained world, a tradition rooted in textile and lacquer as much as ceramics. Kyo-yaki's overglaze enamel tradition made this kind of layered pictorial intensity possible in a way that other regional wares could not.
🔍 DEEP-DIVE Yamaoka Shozo worked within the Kyo-yaki lineage where decorative ambition and technical control are inseparable. The black glaze ground used here is not simply a backdrop — it creates a night-sky field against which the gold roundels appear almost illuminated. The crazing (貫入) present in the glaze surface, common in high-fire Kyo-yaki, integrates naturally into the overall surface character and does not diminish the piece's ceremonial presence. The tomobako, signed by the artist, confirms the work's attribution and adds provenance continuity.
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ] • Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days • Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking) • Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
