Koro or incense burner in a squared form with a domed lid, ornamented as a basket of chrysanthemums. Of cloisonné enamels executed in moriage relief and silver wired techniques. Signed on the reverse with the Ando mark in silver wire (Ando Jubei, 1876 – 1953). With applied silver mounts, the feet edged in silver, and the incense well of silver. With the original carved rosewood stand. Late Meiji – Taisho era, circa 1900 – 1920.

With a double tomobako or original storage box, the interior box lid inscribed on the exterior: Shippo Koro Mei Kiku no Kago or Cloisonné Enamel Incense Burner Titled Chrysanthemum Basket, and signed Jubei, and sealed.

Ando Jubei created some of the finest enamels ever made. His role in the process was closer to that of an art director than that of artist or craftsman. In this, he was little different than many of the famous names associated with the production of Meiji period art, whether in the medium of enamels, metalwork, or even ceramics. Complex enamels such as this required the collaborative efforts of many specialists. Sometimes the designs themselves were commissioned from professional Nihonga painters. For example, Watanabe Shotei provided many of the drawings for the Tokyo enameller Namikawa Sosuke. A hammering specialist would create the metal body and fashion the rims. Other specialists affixed the fine wires which held the glass powders. Another craftsmen specialized in the ground glass itself, while yet another would oversee the critical firing of the work in the kiln.

While Ando Jubei made enamels in different grades and price ranges, his moriage work was among the most difficult and costly to make. It remains the rarest and finest of Imperial level enamel work from the Golden Age of Japanese Enamels.

The green basket motif is entirely executed in moriage relief, as are all of the chrysanthemum blossoms on the lid. The other blossoms are executed in flat enamels with extremely delicate and fine shading. All of the wirework is silver.

An extremely rare and spectacular example of Ando Jubei’s finest work.