Vase in a baluster form ornamented with a fruiting raspberry plant. Of cloisonné enamels, executed in moriage relief, silver wire, and musen or wireless techniques. Signed on the reverse in silver wire in a gourd-form reserve by the artist: Kawade (Kawade Shibataro, active late 19th – early 20th century, born 1856). Late Meiji era, circa 1897.

This vase was commissioned as half of a pair for the Imperial Household Agency. The other half is still in the Imperial Collections, and is illustrated in The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan catalogue The Modern Era of Shippo, Japanese Cloisonné, number 8, dating to circa 1897. The catalogue states that the box inscription identifies the Imperial Collection vase as “ittai no uchi” or “one of a pair,” so that they are certain that their piece was made as half of a pair.

Kawade Shibataro was a famous craftsman, unrivalled in the creation of moriage shippo. He became the second head of the Ando workshop in 1900 (after the retirement of Kaji Sataro). During this period he was also active in Nagoya City politics, serving on the Nagoya City cabinet (kaigi-in) between 1895 and 1907. From 1906, he was a member of the Aichi Prefectural cabinet. In 1910, his restless nature led him to leave his position at the Ando workshop and move to Karatsu in Kyushu. There he spent his later years researching the production of enamel and kiln fuels. These pursuits unfortunately did not lead to anything, and he is said to have died embittered in Karatsu.

Raspberries were an exotic new import into Meiji era Japan, and as such would have been prized additions to upper-class gardens. Molding the branches of the budding plant around each of the vases in complementary directions, Kawade Shibataro created a three dimensional quality in the design that the moriage relief only enhances. At the foot and rim, a chocolate and blue key-fret design encircles the vase. At the base, a pale green bokashi treatment renders the lawn fading into the pale sky above.

An important enamel by one of the great masters of the Golden Age.