Tomobako (original signed wooden box)
Showa period
D 24 cm H 28 cm
This jar with floral design is a work by Kawai Kanjirō, a ceramic artist known as a central figure of the Japanese Mingei (Folk Craft) movement. Among his works, it belongs to a comparatively large category and possesses a dignified, commanding presence.
Set against a soft white glaze, floral motifs in gosu (cobalt blue) and copper-red (cinnabar) are rendered in fluid, expressive brushwork. The design spreads expansively across the richly rounded body, with decoration applied to both sides, allowing the piece to be appreciated from every angle.
Kanjiro KAWAI（河井寛次郎）
1890 - 1966
Kanjirou Kawai was a Kyoto-based potter within the folk tradition of Japanese and Korean ceramics and a key figure in Mingei (Japanese folk art movement). He was a long-time friend of Shōji Hamada, Soetsu Yanagi, and Bernard Leach with whom he co-founded the Japan Folk Art Association in 1926. He refused all official honors, such as the designation of “Living National Treasures,” He often decorated his works with bold, semiabstract blossom motifs, which he painted freely in under-glaze cobalt blue, iron brown, and copper red.
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