Large Meiji Period Japanese Inlaid Hibachi

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Description

Turn this one slowly and the decoration tells a small story, a bird caught mid-flight on one side, a flowering … Read more Turn this one slowly and the decoration tells a small story, a bird caught mid-flight on one side, a flowering branch unfurling on another, the classic bird-and-blossom pairing that shows up again and again in Japanese decorative art because it never really goes out of favor. Both are worked in gold maki-e, powder built up over lacquer in fine layers rather than painted on, sitting against the warm, banded grain of a keyaki wood bowl with a fuller, more barrel-like profile than a plain planter would ever have. Lift it and the reason becomes obvious, a fitted copper liner sits inside, its surface carrying a soft verdigris patina that only comes from real age, evidence this bowl held actual charcoal fire long before it held soil. That kind of history doesn't fake well, and it's exactly what separates a piece like this from a modern reproduction planter. Give it a low perch, a console, a hearth that no longer sees a fire of its own, somewhere the bird and the blossom can both be seen without having to walk all the way around it.

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