Lacquer Tea Caddy ‘mountains’ by Ippyosai VII

A lacquered wood tea caddy in natsume form, the rounded body and domed cover decorated in an asymmetric composition of sweeping, wave form bands rendered in gold nashiji against a lustrous dark brown ground, the design continuing unbroken across the join between cover and body. The interior of both cover and body finished in nashiji with a warm copper gold tone. Signed in gold lacquer to the base and fitted in a nijubako (double box): an inner wooden tomobako, inscribed “maki-e shi Ippyosai” with the artist’s seal, housed within an outer lacquered box.

Ippyosai is a Kyoto maki-e lineage descending from the late Edo period, when the first generation Ippyosai Chobei trained under Kajikawa and Hara Yoyusai before establishing the family workshop; the third generation began applying maki-e to tea utensils, though the family’s focus on natsume as a primary form developed after the Second World War. The workshop is known for rarely exhibiting publicly, maintaining an artisan focused practice, and for its skill in keuchi, the fine final overpainting stage, characterized by generous use of gold powder. Ippyosai VII, born Eizo in Kyoto in 1942, was the son of the sixth generation Ippyosai and trained under his father as well as under Shimizuya Komin, succeeding to the name in 2001 upon the death of the sixth generation. He was selected for the 12th Industrial Crafts Technology Competition in 1984 and is a member of the Kyoto Maki-e Craft Association.