Description
This piece was the subject of a collaboration with Musaics and composer Natsumi Osborne.
Inspired by this Meiji-period Japanese pot, Natsumi composed a piece of music that is available online here.
When Natsumi Osborne said she was looking for a Japanese object that reflected her own cross-cultural roots in Japan and the United States, I immediately thought of this antique Meiji-era Tokoname terra cotta pot. Dating to the late 19th century, the piece embodies the opening of Japan to international trade and its export of goods to satisfy the American and European fascination with Japonisme, the period’s obsession with Japanese aesthetics.
Collectors of traditional Japanese art often turn away from Meiji-period objects of this kind, which although frequently of superb craftsmanship, were designed to satisfy Western conceptions of Japan rather than authentic Japanese craft. But as an antique dealer, I’m interested in this piece precisely for that reason: it gives shape to the cross-cultural aesthetics emerging 150 years ago, its cloud-threaded dragon neither quite Japanese nor Western but somewhere in between, traversing the continents of the globalized world we live in today.
It’s also simply an exquisite object, and Natsumi’s composition captures both its beauty and meaning as I could never do in words alone.
Thank you, Audrey of Musaics and Natsumi for this wonderful opportunity to fuse my love of objects and contemporary classical music!
Condition
Very good.
Measurements
16 inches wide
Shipping
Free in the continental United States. If an international buyer, please contact me for a shipping estimate by clicking here.
