A Negoro lacquer heishi (bottle vase) Late Muromachi Period
Sold for £18,000 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Japanese Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistA Negoro lacquer heishi (bottle vase)
Of exaggerated meiping form, with a small spout at the top and swelling shoulder and a body which narrows in a long, elegant curve towards the bottom, where it widens to a splayed foot to create a stable base, typically lacquered red over black on a yasuri ground; with wood storage box. 28cm (11in) high. (2).
Footnotes
根来瓶子 室町時代後期
For examples of negoro lacquered bottles, see Kawada Sadamu, Negoro, Shikosha, Kyoto, 1985, pls.1-16.
For a pair of bottles of the same form, see the Exhibition Catalogue, Negoro, Suntory Museum, 1979.
The graceful proportions of heishi (or heiji) wine vessels were probably inspired by the Song Dynasty (960-1279) porcelain vase shape known as meiping. According to Kawada Sadamu, Honorary Member of Nara National Museum and Professor Emeritus of Tezukayama University, the production of Negoro-ware heishi began early in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), when the aesthetic of a red design on a black background - favoured by the warrior class for various types of utensils, including swords, saddles, and arrows - was adopted for the decoration of ceremonial vessels.