Jar with Japanese Snake Gourd Design

からす瓜模様壺

mid- to late 1900s

Imanishi Masaya 今西方哉

(Japanese, b. 1947)

Japan, Shōwa period (1926–89) to Heisei period (1989–2019)

porcelain with underglaze blue

Diameter: 33.6 cm (13 1/4 in.); Overall: 31.7 cm (12 1/2 in.); Diameter of rim: 14 cm (5 1/2 in.)

Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of the artist 1992.98

Location: 235A Japanese

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Did You Know?

The snake gourds growing around the artist's home near Nara are shaped like rugby balls and in summer, their white flowers that look like silk threads make you forget the heat, he says.

Description

Imanishi Masaya trained with Kondō Yūzō, whose mature work combined classical East Asian decorative motifs, such as pine, bamboo, and plum, executed with Western-style brushwork on traditional Asian forms, like the flower vase 1994.129. Imanishi’s jar shows overall fidelity to his teacher’s methods while reintroducing more delicate, calligraphic brushwork in the surface design.