Tray in squared form with flaring sides, the top ornamented with a stylized water motif in gold against a deep red ground. Of red takamaki-e raised above a gold lacquer ground, the rims of roiro mirror-polished black lacquer and the reverse of black lacquer framing an orange lacquer center. Signed on the reverse in raised gold lacquer by the artist: Ban (Banura Shogo, 1901 – 1982). Showa era, circa 1955 – 1965.

With the tomobako or original box, inscribed on the exterior of the lid: Ushiyo Mon Ho-bachi or Water Current Motif Squared Bowl; and then signed: Ban, and sealed: Ban Saku or Made by Ban.

Banura Shogo was born in Nanao in Ishikawa Prefecture. He studied maki-e lacquer in the town of Wajima, moving to Kyoto in 1925. Shogo first exhibited at the Imperial Art Exhibitions with the 11th Teiten in Showa 5 (1930). In 1935, he helped found the Keijusha art group, with whom he also exhibited. In the 1936 Bunten Kansaten, his work was selected for a prize, and in 1937, he won a prize of honor at the Paris International Exhibition. That same year he became Director of the Kyoto Crafts Institute (Kyoto Kogeiin). In 1945, Shogo formed and led the Sojinsha group, which he expanded in 1953 into the Shugenkai. In 1961, he became director of the Nitten national art exhibition, and also formed the Kyoto Lacquer Ware Artist’s Association (Kyoto Shitsugeika Kyokai). In 1963, he received the Nihon Geijutsuin Prize.

One of the major figures in the 20th century Japanese lacquer world, Banura Shogo is famous for his modernist treatment of naturalist themes. For other examples of his work, c.f. the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art catalogue, Crafts Reforming in Kyoto (1910 – 1940), A Struggle Between Tradition and Renovation, page 137 – 139. His work was the focus of a major retrospective at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art in 1985 entitled Master Craftsman of Modern Lacquer Ware: Banura Shogo Exhibit. Two of his pieces are also in the collection of the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art.

For other examples of Banura Shogo’s work, c.f. Kagedo’s catalogue Breaking Light, numbers 127 & 128.

Reversing the traditional approach with gold decorated lacquers, Banura raises the red background and details the lower water motif in gold. Beyond the artist’s playful choice, this subtly alters how one views the tray. The red seems more of an equal partner with the stylized lines of gold. Nothing interrupts the distillation of color and movement rising out to the edges. Around this painterly play of shape and color an unusually massive rim detailed in black weights the frame and receding sides. While the effect still reads as sun and water, echoing a traditional pairing of New Year’s sunrise and sea motifs, the tray strikes one with the compelling immediacy of an abstract painting. Perhaps that was Banura Shogo’s point.