Vase in the form of a small gourd with a section of scrolling vine and leaves, on which crawls a ladybug. The vase of uchidashi or hammered and assembled iron, the larger vine of shibuichi hammered and cold-chiseled, the curling tendrils of hammered and twisted silver, the upper leaf of hammered and cold-chiseled iron and the lower leaf of hammered and cold-chiseled shibuichi inlaid in gold, the ladybug of shakudo inlaid in red bronze and silver, the eyes of gold. Signed on the back with a chiseled signature by the artist: Shoami, and then with an inlaid, carved gold seal: Katsuyoshi (Shoami Katsuyoshi, 1832 – 1908). Meiji 9 or 1876.

With tomobako or original box, inscribed on the exterior of the box lid: Hyo Kabin or Gourd (Form) Vase; and on the reverse with a list of the materials used: Kin, Gin, Udo, Shibuichi Iroe Hori or Gold, Silver, Shakudo, Shibuichi Patinated (and) Carved, and then: Kibi, Meiji, Kyu-nen, Okayama-sei or Kibi (Province), Meiji (era), 9th Year (1876), Made in Okayama, and then signed: Made and Titled by Shoami Katsuyoshi, and sealed twice. Included in the box are early 20th century Japanese fine-art auction receipts.

Born in Tsuyama in Okayama Prefecture to a family of metalworkers for the Matsudaira family, Shoami Katsuyoshi began to study metal arts at the age of thirteen, and five years later he was adopted into the Shoami family of Okayama. He studied Goto school metalworking under his brother Nakagawa Issho (1839 – 1876), who was a pupil of Goto Ichijo. Originally a maker of sword-fittings, he shifted to other forms of metalwork after the end of the Edo period. During the Meiji era his work won many prizes in both domestic and international exhibitions.

For other examples of his work in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, c.f. Meiji no Takara, Treasures of Imperial Japan: Metalwork, Part 1, numbers 7 and 8. For an incense burner by Shoami, c.f. Kagedo’s catalogue Breaking Light, number 17.

Both from a technical and from a design perspective, this sculptural vase represents the pinnacle of Japanese metalworking. Shoami was famous for his naturalistic subject matter, and for employing the finest level of craftsmanship in its execution. To hammer and carve this vase was far more difficult than to cast and assemble the various sections. The gold details inlaid into the shibuichi leaf are executed on a scale so fine as to amaze the viewer.

The intimate scale and subject matter of this piece made it appropriate for use in late summer or early autumn in a tea room. The curl of the vine at the back made it possible to hang on a tokobashira alcove post, as well as to use the gourd for a sitting flower arrangement.