Pair

Often, vases are made in pairs. In this case, the vases are different, but complementary. The two birds on the left seem to challenge the ones on the right.

The pair was made by Namikawa Sosuke (1847-1910), who is seen as one of the most influential artists during the Meiji period (1868-1912). In 1896, the Emperor of Japan appointed him as one of the royal craftsmen due to his highly appreciated technique of Japanese Cloisonné making.

Namikawa was well-known for his skills in Japanese Cloisonné, and also further modified the enameling method by creating wireless cloisonné enamels[1], another reason for his fame. Employing wires only for fine details, removing them altogether before the final firing or before burning them off through the use of sulphuric acid, some of Namikawa’s techniques were created with help from Gottfried Wagener (1831-92), a German chemist and technical consultant to the Japanese industry. The techniques that he developed allowed him to maintain the brightness and refinement of the original cloisonné colors and patterns that had been achieved by thick layers of enamel colors without using wires to determine the patterns on the surface of the artworks. Namikawa’s innovation makes colors and patterns more natural and more lively. Let us discuss this some more, while we go sit on the branch with the birds on the right.