Antique Japanese Lacquered Wood Wabi-Sabi Bowl

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What can we say about this bowl? Perhaps we can start by describing the unique Japanese aesthetic concept of "Wabi-Sabi". … Read more What can we say about this bowl? Perhaps we can start by describing the unique Japanese aesthetic concept of "Wabi-Sabi". In contrast to the western concept of beauty that is centered on "perfection", wabi-sabi strives to see beauty in transience and imperfection. Sometimes, it is an appreciation of the simplicity in an object, earthy, organic, natural, even decaying or broken, yet it still conveys a sense of beauty to a true connoisseur, who sees the world not only with eyes, but also with mind and a deep understanding and acceptance of the fragile and ephemeral nature of all things.
This wood bowl perfectly embodies this enduring Japanese concept. Made from an ancient piece of wood that is characterized by significant fissures, gaps and allover wormholes, the artist organically follow the essence of his material while fashioning it into a piece of art. In contrast to the organic essence of the material, the artist painstakingly put his human touch by creating a poetic inlaid image of an eggplant vine decorated with lacquer, gold Maki-e and Fundame. Three gold butterfly joints (knowns as Arikata in Japanese ) were used to stabilize the fissures, a practice in Japanese woodwork that make efforts to embrace the imperfection . There is a signature in gold kanji that reads "Yoshisai", the studio of Yoshi, but we couldn't identify the artist in our research. On the bottom of the bowl, the wholesomeness of the singular piece of wood is largely intact, with another old repair joint found.
The bowl, with its impressive organic form and artistic ornamentation, tells a story, and it is a philosophical one. It is about an ideal relationship between human and nature, about acceptance and humbleness, about a beauty that is more akin to poetry, about the consciousness of "the perfect imperfection".
Based on the patina and workmanship, we conservatively date the bowl to mid-19th century, Meiji period. See less