Author: Introduction by Barry Davies and Malcolm Fairley

Publisher/Date: Barry Davies Oriental Art Ltd, London (1993)

Format/Condition: Dark green cloth hardbound book with dus tjacket, gilt lettering on spine and cover, unpaginated, in near fine condition: light shelfwear. 28 works represented with numerous color plates of each piece. Measures 9×13 inches.

Description: From the foreword: It is with great pleasure and enormous pride that we introduce the contemporary lacquer artist, Unryuan. The discovery of Unryuan is a watershed in contemporary Japanese art, and for this we owe a debt of enormous gratitude to Mr N Kaneko of Yokohama, renowned expert and scholar of Japanese art, for his introduction. Unryuau’s remarkable skills in both the design and technical execution of his works undoubtedly place him already alongside such illustrious artists from the past as Shunsho and Shiomi Masanari. Being a living artist, Unryuan is still developing these skills and techniques.

Unryuan was born in Wajima City, Ishikawa-prefecture, in 1952. At the age of 20, he became apprenticed to a lacquer master in his home town, and spent the next thirteen years studying and learning the skills used in this traditional art. By 1980 he had decided to concentrate on the more traditional designs and techniques of past lacquer work, in contrast to the less complex and plain styles of most contemporary works. In 1985 he established his own studio and one year later, his studies led him to concentrate his research into the construction and techniques involved in the making of inro.

This culminated in 1990 when he devised his own method of making the wooden foundations for contemporary inro. His research and experimentation has led him to use the following woods for the bases Hinoki The best comes from the natural trees of Kiso, or the replanted ones of Yoshino Ho The finest comes from Tohoku and I-lokkaido, especially those used for kuri work Hiba Same family as Hinoki wood, although not of such high quality. The woods used in Unryuan’s studio are kept for at least ten years to allow them to season and mature, thus avoiding splitting after lacquering. Occasionally, wood from old houses is obtained, normally around one hundred years old, but supply is very limited.

Unryuan has used the same techniques employed on his inro to make the natsume (tea jars), fubako (document box) suzuribako (writing boxes) and a matching bundai (scholar’s table) shown in this Exhibition. He is a master of all maki-e techniques, but has developed a special fondness for togidashi, a notoriously difficult medium of lacquerwork. The execution of his togidashi work is superb, and in true classical tradition, as can be seen on many of the pieces, both inro and boxes, exhibited here. Not only is Unryuan’s technical execution brilliant, his designs, clearly based on his research and respect for old styles and techniques, reflect a freedom, quality and attention to detail that is quite breath-taking. A superb example of this is No. 13 in the catalogue, an Inro of particularly subtle sumi-e togidashi, which was recently acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum. It is reproduced in this catalogue and lent by kind permission of the Trustees, and will be on view in this Exhibition.

Unryuan’s techniques are strictly traditional, but have been learned from few sources available, and perfected by his own genius. The sheer amount of time needed to work in this manner has led to the virtual extinction of this branch of the art. It is apparent that his designs are, in the most part, based on the old styles. However, these designs are his own, classically inspired but based on his own interpretation of legends, scenes, etc., and not copies from antiquity. Unryuan has added an exciting dimension to the preparation of this catalogue by allowing us to photograph his preparatory sketches for most of the pieces exhibited.

This is the first exhibition of Unrynan’s work to be held anywhere in the world. Some of the pieces have taken up to four years to complete, and the inro normally between thirteen and fifteen months. We hope that collectors of fine lacquer, both new and old, will derive as much pleasure from observing his work as we have from observing its creation and arranging this exhibition.

Please note that all works of art in this exhibition by Unryuan are signed by him, either fully, or with his kakihan. Also, all are presented in an inner hinoki wood box, fully signed Unryuan, and an outer box of tea-green lacquer, with gold lacquer description of the item.