Beautiful Japanese vintage (late 20thC) lacquer incense box (kogo) by Yamazaki Mushu (b 1977), one of Japan’s leading contemporary lacquer artists with a number of publications to his name. The lid features a sleeping boar in gold maki-e lacquer under a mother-of-pearl new moon in a starlit sky – the maki-e lacquer decoration and interior (in nashiji/pear skin) is exquisite. The box is signed. Measures 9cm diameter x 2.1cm (ca 3.5 x 0.8 inches).
Superb condition.
Born the eldest son of a lacquerer, in his late teens Yamazaki Mushū (birthname: Atsushi) entered the workshop of Nakamura Shūzō to receive instruction in the techniques of Kaga maki-e, a regional style of lacquer decoration dating back to the time of Maeda Toshitsune (1594-1658), lord of Kaga Province (present-day Ishikawa Prefecture). In 1990 he assumed his artistic name Mushū, written with two characters meaning "Dream Boat," that express his determination to use the ancient art of lacquering as the vessel through which his creative vision can be given tangible physical form. He has constantly developed new styles of expression without deviating from the exacting artistic and technical standards he absorbed as a young apprentice, deploying an unusually wide range of hues including not only metallic gold and silver but also coloured lacquer.