Catalog: Archives (641)

A mid Edo period (16th to 17th century) five plate cuirass (go-mai-do) of heavy iron emblazoned on front with a sun and moon in inlayed silver over the fierce god Fudomyo with protective sanskjrit characters in silver damascene on the sides and a five character phrase (The Gotoku or five precepts of Confucianism, also espoused in the book of five rings) on back, also in silver. It is lacquered red inside, and about the waste hang rows of black lacquered scales laced in blue with color fleckedwhite mimi-ito. The lacquer is in rough condition.
The Sode are made of plate iron lacquered black within, also laced in blue with white mimi-ito. The Sode are signed Koshu-nushi Myochin-Ki Nobunawa and dated an auspicious day in the 8th month of Tensho 2 (1574). Perhaps these were heirlooms passed down through the family that were incorporated into a suit of armor in the mid Edo period. It comes with papers from the Japanese Armor Society. A jizai butterfly with the same signature is held in the Musuem 50 in Kaohsiung Taiwan.
The Takahimo and Aibiki Himo (the tie chords connecting the front and back of the do on the right side and at the shoulder) are weak and need restoring, and one of the plates covering the Kohaze on the right shoulder (front) has been replaced. I am offering it in original condition to allow the collector the right to choose the level of restoration desired.
The five precepts of Confucianism espoused on back are not easily defined, but could be:
Nin: Think of others
Gi: Duty, justice, selfless
Rei: The actuation of “Nin”
Chi: Knowledge, wisdom
Shin: Friendship, loyalty, trust

A large white bronze Koro by Tsuda Eiju exhibited at the 14th Nitten in 1982. It is published in the catalog for that year, and comes with the Nitten card upon which it is pictured. The creature is 45 cm (18 inches) tall, 30 cm (12 inches) wide and in excellent condition. Tsuda Eiju (1915-2001) studied under Tsuda Shinobu (1875-1946) eventually becoming his heir. He was accepted into and awarded at the Nitten National Exhibition many times including the Hokutosho prize.

A very rare pair of porcelain vases decorated with Plum Pine and Bamboo by Miyagawa (Makuzu) Kozan I enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Makuzu Gama Seika Shochikubai no Shuku-ga Kabin (Makuzu Kiln Plum Pine and Bamboo Celebratory Image Vases). Bamboo rise up majestically, the blossoming plum branches wrapping opposite each other, with baby pines growing on the back. All traditional symbols of celebration. The vases are roughly 25 cm (10 inches) tall each and in excellent condition, retaining their original rosewood stands. An inscription inside the lid states they were received from Hanzan (Kozan II) as a gift commemorating the wedding of Arishima Takeo in 1910 and held in the Arishima family collection.
The name Kozan was granted by Prince Yasui-no-Miya in 1851 in honor of the tea ware produced during the later Edo for the imperial Court by the tenth generation head of the Kyoto pottery family Miyagawa Chozo. The Kozan (Makuzu) kiln as we know it today was established in Yokohama in 1871 by the 11th generation head of the family where he reinvented the family business. He immediately set out on a journey which would propel the Kozan name to International Celebrity status, and send his wares throughout the globe. Pieces produced there were marked Kozan, or Makuzu, the official kiln name, or both. Although he had been running the daily operation since the late 19th century, the first son, Hanzan, succeeded as head of the kiln, in 1912, with the father officially retiring to spend more time on his own research and art. Kozan I dies in 1916. The kiln was run by Hanzan through the early Showa era, he officially taking the name Kozan II in 1917, after one year mourning for his fathers passing. Under Hanzan the kiln was commissioned for works to be presented to the Prince of Wales, the 25th wedding anniversary gift for the Taisho emperor and the Showa Emperors coronation gift. The kiln was completely destroyed in the bombing of Yokohama in 1945. For more on this illustrious family see Bridging East and West, Japanese Ceramics from the Kozan Studio by Kathleen Emerson-Dell.

An unprecedented musuem quality seventeen piece Sencha Tea Set, each piece decorated by Zen Preist Hashimoto Dokuzan, each piece of pottery made by ceramic master Miura Chikusen I, the others made by masters in their felds, all enclosed in their original signed wooden boxes. The set consists of a Ryoro brazier, Ryoro dai tile for under the brazier, Kogo for incense, Fukin Tsutsu for a towel, Kensui for spent tea or water, two bisque fired teapots, a porcelain tea pot, a set of 5 tea cups, a set 5 of turned wood saucers, a woven fan for the coals, a Hawk feather wand, a wooden tea scoop, a wood plate for the tea pot, a silk fukin napkin, an exquisite pair of tea caddies and a red lacquered storage box with an inlaid Chinese jade handle; the door decorated with bamboo by Chikusen. An unprecedented set by these very important artists. The Ryoro is 10 inches (25 cm) tall. The tea pot is 7 x 5 x 5 inches (18 x 13 x 13 cm). All parts are in excllent condition.
Hashimoto Dokuzan (Gengi, 1869-1938) was born in Niigata, and was sent to Kyoto at the age of 16 to study painting and philosophy under Tomioka Tessai. At the age of 20 he entered Tenryuji under Gazan. He received Inka from Ryuen. In 1910 he moved to Shokokuji, and then was assigned the foundation of Nanonji Temple in Tottori Prefecture. He served as abbot of Tenryuji Temple and Shokokuji, both important Zen temples in Kyoto.
Miura Chikusen I (1854-1915) made a name for himself as a strict adherent to and supplier of Sencha tea wares in Kyoto; one of the most important artists in the country for that genre. He studied under Takahashi Dohachi from the age of 13, before establishing his own studio in 1883. He was a feature in the literati community of Kyoto and was well known also as a painter, poet and calligraphist. His porcelains were considered of the highest grade throughout the Meiji era, and are still highly collectable today. The kiln continues, currently under the management of the fifth generation.

An exquisite 17th-18th c. rendition of Suiten (vedic Varuna) rising over tempestuous waves. Pigment on silk, The scroll is 59.2 x 167.5 cm (23-1/2 x 66 inches). It has been fully remounted, in an antique silk retaining the original brass rollers. One of the oldest gods, Varuna is associated with a Serpent (Makara) as his vehicle and a noose as his weapon. Varuna is god of waters, the source of rains and the one who rules over the Nagas (divine sea serpent), myths important in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Shinto he is associated with the 12th century child emperor Antoku, and is considered a guardian deity for child birth as well as all things associated with water (fishing, sea faring, maritime freight, natural disasters such as floods and torrential rains, and interestingly “Mizushobai” (literally floating world trade), the business of pleasure.

Cranes soar before the red orb of the sun over festive young pines on these five ceramic bowls covered outside in red and black lacquer from the Nagoya studio of Toyoraku (also Horaku) dating from the mid to later 19th century, late Edo to Meiji eras. This set is exceptional! It is enclosed in a fine compartmentalized collectors kiri-wood box titled Owari Toyoraku Yaki Nuri Asahi-Tsuru-Matsu Suimono Chawan Go Kyaku (Five Owari Toyoraku Pottery Lacquered Soup Bowls Decorated with Pines, Cranes and Rising Sun). The red circle created by the lid is the rising sun, the golden crane sailing before it, and on the black bowl are young pines, symbolizing strength fortune.
The Toyoraku tradition began in the mid 1700s, however it was the fourth generation head of the household (Toyosuke IV 1813~1858) who moved the kiln to Kamimaezu in Nagoya and began applying lacquer and Maki-e to the works. He was succeeded by his son, Toyosuke V (d. 1885) who passed the kiln to his own son Toyosuke VI, (d. 1917), who was highly lauded in his lifetime and made pottery on order of the Meiji emperor, his pieces being selected for international exhibition. However from the later Meiji he concentrated on Raku-ware, and the lacquer tradition mostly disappeared from the family ouvre.

A rare 17th century Japanese Lacquer table performed in the Nanban style exhibited in 1972 at the Kyoto National Museum (including paperwork from the museum). Overall it is in excellent condition, enclosed in an older wooden storage box. It is 12 x 17 x 14 inches (31 x 43 x 36 cm).
According to the Met: The Portuguese and Spanish who visited Japan during the Momoyama period were fascinated by the beauty and exotic appearance of luxurious gold-decorated lacquerwares associated with the taste of warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598). As a result, lacquers commissioned for the European market typically adopted this flamboyant style (Kōdaiji maki-e). Such pieces—among the earliest trade goods exported from Japan—are known collectively as “Nanban,” or “Southern Barbarian,” the Japanese appellation for foreigners who arrived “from the south.” Highly prized by the great families of Europe as luxurious exotica, they helped to define a “Japan aesthetic” for the Continent for more than three centuries. The decorative patterns depict Japanese subjects, among others, including maple, mandarin orange, and cherry trees, camellia flowers, wisteria branches, and birds. The decorative bands of the borders are embellished with geometric designs. One of the characteristic features of the Nanban lacquers is the rich application of mother-of-pearl inlays.

A koro incense burner by Teishitsu Gigei-In Suwa Sozan I decorated by his friend the famous scholar artist Tomioka Tessai and enclosed in a signed double wood box. The silver lid is by Nakagawa Joeki. It is 3-1/2 inches (9 cm) tall (plus the lid), 5 inches (12 cm) diameter and in excellent condition. The box is titled Daibutsu Sozan zo Juhana Koro Tessai Dai and signed Sozan Yakisei.
Tomioka Tessai (1837-1924) was a scholar artist trained from age seven in the traditional Confucian manner. After the death of his father he was apprenticed to a Shinto shrine, and later was forced to escape the capitol to Kyushu to avoid arrest for anti-governmental actions he had taken on part of the Imperial cause. Here he began serious study of Literati painting and furthered his scholarly research. Upon returning to Kyoto he was befriended by and moved to work under Otagaki Rengetsu, from whom he was heavily influenced. He helped to establish the Nihon Nanga-In and held a number of important positions, culminating in being appointed the official painter of the Emperor and a member of the Imperial Art Academy; the highest honor in Japanese Art circles. He is represented in innumerable important collections. Information on this important person is readily available, for more see Scholar Painters of Japan by Cahill (1972), Roberts Dictionary, or a quick internet search will find plenty of reading. He is held in the Tokyo National Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Kyoto, V&A etc…
Sozan I (1852-1922) was born in Kutani country, present day Ishikawa prefecture, where he initially studied before moving to Tokyo in 1875. Over the next 25 years he would gravitate between Tokyo and Kanazawa, working at various kilns and research facilities. He again relocated, this time to Kyoto in 1900 to manage the Kinkozan Studio before establishing his own. His name became synonymous with celadon and refined porcelain and was one of only five potters to be named Teishitsu Gigei-in. The Teishitsu Gigei-in were members of the Imperial Art Academy, Perhaps in modern terms one might call them the predecessors to the Living National Treasures. However unlike the LNT, there were only five Pottery artists ever named Teishitsu Gigei-in, Ito Tozan, Suwa Sozan, Itaya Hazan, Miyagawa Kozan, and Seifu Yohei III. He was succeeded by his adopted daughter upon his death. He is held in the Kyoto National Museum among many others.
Nakagawa Joeki X (Junsaburo, 1880-1940) was the 10th generation head of the Nakagawa family of metal workers, one of the Jusoku-Kei families supplying tea ware to the various tea schools, responsible for bronze ware, and is said to have peaked with the 9th and 10th generations. He headed the line from1911-1940, covering the reign of 3 emperors; he was greatly favored by tea masters at the time.

Texture has been applied to joined silk panels intimating waves and frothing sea salt which has then been gilded with genuine silver by Imai Toshimitsu signed and dated 2000. Each panel is 67 x 183 cm (31 x 72 inches) and the screen is in excellent condition.
Toshimitsu Imai was born in Kyoto in 1928. After finishing school in 1948, he trained at the Tokyo State Art Academy. Throughout Imai's career his work was distinguished by an acute sensitivity to color. In 1951 Imai was awarded the Kansai-Shinseisaku Prize and in 1952 the prize for the best new artist at the 15th Shinseisaku Exhibition. After his first solo show in Japan, Imai moved to Paris in 1952. There he attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Sorbonne, where he completed a degree course in medieval history and philosophy. Imai showed paintings in 1953 and 1954 at the Salon de l'Art Sacré. Under the sway of new impressions and influenced by the critic Michel Tapié, Imai switched from representational to abstract art in March 1955. Imai was the first Japanese artist to join Informel, and would be central to the dissemination of its activities abroad. By organizing a group show in Japan in 1956 and visiting his native country accompanied by Sam Francis and George Mathieu (1957), Toshimitsu Imai played a paramount role in introducing European Abstract art to Japan. From 1956 Imai's own work was sold by Leo Castelli in New York and, from 1957, Galerie Stadler in Paris. The success Imai had with his work at the 1953 São Paulo Biennale and the 1960 Venice Biennale brought him international acclaim, followed by recognition at home in 1962: Toshimitsu Imai was awarded a prize at the 5th Exhibition of Japanese Contemporary Art in Tokyo and the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo holds several of his paintings in their permanent collection. After 1970 - Imai was commuting regularly between Paris and Japan. In 1984 Imai was a co-founder of the Japanese Contemporary Artists' Association (JCAA).
Imai was awarded numerous distinctions in France and elsewhere in Europe: in 1991 he was made an honorary citizen of Madrid, in 1992 of Lyon. In 1996 he was made a chevalier de la Légion d'honneur and in 1997 an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Imai’s art is governed by fluidity and a rejection of fixed shape and image, where technicality and composition have both been renounced on the canvas.
Similar work sold for 16,173 dollars in Christies Hong Kong, on May 29 2016. Top price paid for this artist was 152,672 USD on 28 May 2016. Another work achieved the price of 47,100 Euro in Paris, 5 June 2013

An exquisite lacquer box by Imai Seitaro dating circa 1959 featuring multiple layers of colored lacques carved through with a design of grapes on the vine enclosed in the original signed double wood box (Niju-bako) titled Choshitsu Budo Moyo Shikishi Bako (Carved Lacquer Grape Design Poem Card Box). It is roughly 11 x 12 x 2 inches (27.5 x 30 x 4 cm) and is in fine condition.
Imai Seitaro was born in Kagawa prefecture in 1893, and was first exhibited with the Nitten National Exhibition in 1948, and was often acceptedthere as well as with the Nihon Kogei-kai Ten. He may have been living in Taiwan before that time, as with many records from that time his history has been lost.

A one of a kind Edo period Buddhist censer of wood carved in the shape of a Baku, a mythical creature with the ability to eat nightmares, a brass basin inserted into the back. It is 23 x 16.5 x 27 cm (9 x 6-1/2 x 10-1/2 inches) and in fine condition. There is a strip of wood embedded in the form filling a crack in the wood.
The traditional Japanese nightmare-devouring baku originates in Chinese folklore and was familiar in Japan as early as the Muromachi period (14th–15th century). An early 17th-century Japanese manuscript, the Sankai Ibutsu, describes the baku as a shy, mythical chimera with the trunk and tusks of an elephant, the ears of a rhinoceros, the tail of a cow, the body of a bear and the paws of a tiger, which protected against pestilence and evil. Writing in the Meiji period, Lafcadio Hearn (1902) described a baku with very similar attributes that was also able to devour nightmares.

A breathtaking Taireiji pottery vase by Kiyomizu Rokubei V enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Chrysantheum in raised relief grow ghosly white on the soft pink surface. It is 32 cm 12-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition. Taireiji was the most important development by this innovative artist, and pieces are exceedingly rare.
Kiyomizu Rokubei V (Shimizu Kuritaro, 1875-1959) initially studied painting and decorating technique under Kono Bairei, one of the foremost painters in Japan in the Meiji era. After graduating the Kyoto Municipal Special School of Painting, he took a position under his father at the family kiln however. That same year he exhibited his first work at the National Industrial Exposition. He was a co-founder of Yutoen with his father and Asai Chu, and worked ceaselessly to promote the pottery of Kyoto. He helped to establish the Kyoto Ceramics Research Facility (Kyoto Tojiki Shikensho) at the turn of the century which would be the proving ground for many young artist of the era. Doctor Maezaki Shinya has noted that Teishitsu-Gigei-in (Imperial Art Academy Member) Seifu Yohei III also fired his acclaimed works in the Rokubei kiln in the Taisho era. Due to his father’s poor health Rokubei V took the reins unofficially in 1902, commanding the helm until assuming the name Rokubei V in 1913. It was in 1928 that Rokubei changed the reading of the family name from Shimizu to Kiyomizu and applied it retroactively to previous generations. He exhibited constantly, and garnered a great many awards. He worked to get crafts added to the National Art Exhibition (Bunten/Teiten) and served as a judge in 1927, the first year crafts were allowed. In 1937 he was designated a member of the Imperial Art Council (Teishitsu Bijutsu Inkai). Despite changes in the world around him Rokubei persevered, working in all manner of materials and styles. He retired in 1945, perhaps as exhausted as Japan was with the end of the war, or perhaps seeing that capitulation would signal a new era in need of new leaders and a new aesthetic. He passed the name Rokubei to his son and took the retirement name Rokuwa. Uncontainable he continued to create pottery under that name until his death in 1959. His influence is so pervasive he was voted one of the most important potters of the modern era by Honoho magazine, the preeminent quarterly devoted to Japanese pottery. A multitude of works by him are held in the The National Museums of Modern Art, both in Tokyo and Kyoto, the Kyoto Kyocera Museum, The Kyoto Hakubutsukan Museum and the Philadelphia Art Museum among others.

Early Edo Myochin Signed Nimai Do with Nanban influence featuring gilded kusazuri and sode laced with blue chord dated Genwa 3 (1620). There are rows of Prominent rivets all about with nobori-kiri crests on the top of the munaita. Comes with an old wrapping cloth dyed with the same crest. The Hon-kozane Kusazuri are removable, attached to two leather belts suspended from iron tongs about the waist. The takahimo shoulder straps are wrapped in leather. The shaped horn clasps are extant but one is broken, the other delicate. The signature and date along with another illegible cartouche are inside the Do exposed through squares cut through the gilded leather lining. Made for an adult, it comes with a set of gilded Sode shoulder guards laced with the same indigo chord.

A pale glazed Kyo-yaki ceramic figurine of a rabbit by Takahashi Dohachi III decorated across the back with a poem by the poet-nun Otagaki Rengetsu. The poem reads:
Usagira ga Rabbits
gamanoho-iro no kegoromo wa Fur robes the color of cattails...
kamiyo nagara ni ki kae zaru ran. Remain un-changed since the age of Gods.
This was crafted by a professional potter, the brushwork by Rengetsu, much crisper than normal thanks to the smooth surface and higher grade materials at teh Dohachi Kiln. Signed on the rump: 77 year old Rengetsu, the figure bearing the stamp of Takahashi Dohachi III on the base. It is roughly 19 x 13 x 19 cm (7-1/2 x 5 x 7-1/2 inches). There is a chip in the tip of the right ear, otherwise is in excellent original condition.
Otagaki Rengetsu was born into a samurai family, she was adopted into the Otagaki family soon after birth, and served as a lady in waiting in Kameoka Castle in her formative years, where she received an education worthy of a Lady of means. Reputed to be incredibly beautiful, she was married and bore three children; however her husband and all children died before she was twenty. Remarried she bore another daughter, however that child too perished and her husband died while she was just 32. Inconsolable, she cut off her hair to join the nunnery at Chion-in Temple, where she renounced the world and received the name Rengetsu (Lotus Moon). However this was not the end, but only the beginning of a career as artist and poet which would propel her to the top of the 19th century Japan literati art world.
The Dohachi Kiln was established in Awataguchi by a retainer of Kameyama fief, Takahashi Dohachi I around 1760, and the name Dohachi was brought to the forefront of porcelain and ceramic production by the second generation head of the family who attained an imperial following, and grew to be one of the most famous potters of the Later Edo period to come from Kyoto. Ninnami Dohachi (1783-1855) was born the second son of Takahashi Dohachi I. Following the early death of his older brother he succeeded the family name, opening a kiln in the Gojo-zaka area of Kyoto (at the foot of Kiyomizu temple) in 1814. Well known for research into and perfection of ancient Chinese and Korean forms long held in high esteem in Japan, and at the same time working to expand the family reputation within tea circles. Along with contemporaries Aoki Mokubei and Eiraku Hozen became well known as a master of porcelain as well as Kenzan and Ninsei ware. Over the following decades he would be called to Takamatsu, Satsuma, Kishu and other areas to consult and establish kilns for the Daimyo and Tokugawa families as well as Nishi-Honganji Temple. An exhibition was held at the Suntory Museum in 2014 centering on this artist, and he is also held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Kyoto National Museum among many, many others. The third generation (1811-1879) was known as Kachutei Dohachi and continued the work of his father, producing an abundance of Sencha tea ware and other porcelain forms, maintaining the highest of standards and ensuring the family place in the annals of Kyoto ceramics. He was followed by the fourth generation (1845-1897), and his sons Takahashi Dohachi V (1845-1897) who took control of the kiln in 1897 until 1915 when his younger brother Dohachi VI (Kachutei) (1881-1941) continued the business.

A troop of Shishi lion dogs sewn with couched gold thread. frolic among the blossoms and crashing falls embroidered on the re-purposed rich blue patterned Edo period silk of this altar cloth. The original form was likely an uchikake kimono, assembled as an altar drape as a tribute to the owner at a Buddhist Temple. Embroidered up high is the Mitsuba-aoi crest of the Tokugawa Shogun, indicating this was from an aristocratic family as the quality of the embroidery presmes. The dimensions are roughly 150cm (59 inches) x 170 cm (67 inches) tall, and it is in remarkably fine condition. The kimono was re-fitted into its current form dated on back Meiji 13 (1880) followed by the name Okawa Yoshiuemon

An elephant with pagoda on its back forms this three-piece koro incense burner from the Kairakuen Feudal kiln of the Tokugawa family stamped on the belly with the Kairakuen seal. It is magnificently sculpted, standing 31 cm (12 inches) tall and in excellent condition. It comes in a wooden collector’s box. Inside the lid is a long verse detailing the origins of Kairakuen pottery written and attested to by important Meiji to Taisho period pottery legend Miyagawa (Makuzu) Kozan I.
The Kairakuen kiln was the "garden kiln" sponsored by the Kii branch of the Tokugawa house, in modern day Wakayama founded in 1819. It operated irregularly, drawing upon the services of potters from various Kyoto workshops including the 9th and 10th Omotesenkei Heads Ryoryosai (1775-1825) and Kyukosai (1818-1860), 10th Raku Master Raku Tanyu (1795-1854), and Eiraku Zengoro XI (Nishimura Hozen, 1795–1854) among others . Kairakuen products reflect a marked revival of interest in Chinese ceramics in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This vase, with its restrained shape and overall turquoise enamel glaze, follows Qing [Ch'ing] dynasty ceramic models. The design of the four-character mark, "Made at Kairakuen," imitates enamel four-character seals appearing on Qing [Ch'ing] imperial wares.

A pair of powerful Shishi guardian carvings dating from the later Edo period, 18th-19th century, in the Ah-Un expression (Exhaling and inhaling). Ah-Un has many allusions, it is the beginning and end of the alphabet, summarizing all in between, and is said to be inhaling good fortune, and exhaling bad. Glass eyes inset into very human faces. They are 10-1/2 inches (26.5 cm) tall, 9-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches (24 x 14 cm). Ah has a chip in the foot and tip of the tail whereas the end of the tail has been broken off of Un.

This is the pinnacle of production for imperial artist Seifu Yohei III, a large Taihakuji porcelain vase with carved designs enclosed in the original signed wood box. Museum quality would be an understatement. Seifu III was known to have made few large works, so this is a very important piece, and Taihakuji was his most appreciated style. Here we see two pheasants in a blossoming tree overlooking a large crag, with clouds brimming about the rim, all in carved relief. It is signed on the base Dai-Nippon Seifu Zo and measures 39 cm (15-1/2 inches) tall, 28.5 cm (11-1/2 inches) diameter. The vase retains the original rosewood stand kept in a separate compartment in the box and all is in excellent condition.
Seifu Yohei III (1851-1914) was the adopted son of Yohei II. Sent at the age of twelve to study painting under then the top Nanga artist Tanomura Chokunyu, he returned in 1865 due to illness. The next year he entered as an apprentice the Seifu studio, then under the control of the second generation. As so often happens in these situations, in 1872 he married the daughter, becoming a “Yoji” or adopted son of Yohei and taking the family name, established himself as an individual artist. Within the year his genius was discovered, and works by him were sent to the Vienna World Exposition. Seifu II retires of illness in 1878, and III succeeds the family kiln. Once again he is honored as the new head of the kiln to produce the dinnerware for the former president of the US Ulysses Grant. His work was highly acclaimed, both domestically and abroad, drawing honors and prizes at the Naikoku Hakurankai (National Exhibition), Chicago and Paris World expositions and being named one of the first members of the Imperial Art Academy specializing in ceramics in 1893 (Tei shitsu Gigei In). Works by this rare artist are held in Museums and collections throughout the world. He was succeeded by the fourth generation Seifu (1871-1951) in 1914.