JBAE - Japanese Buddhist Art in European Collections

ISO	GBR	Object type	Ritual object	Museum	Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
Object title	Set of four Negoro-ware bowls	Ownership current status	Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia
Copyright owner	All data courtesy of the museum/owner. Copyright is held by the owner as stated above.
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Artist, kiln
Period
Date
Origin
School, style
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Collection registration number
Collection registration number 2
Collection registration number 3
Size height (mm)	a:60 b:80 c:50 d:40
Size length (mm)
Size width (mm)	a:120 b:130 c:110 d:100
Size depth (mm)
Size other (i.e. diameter)	a:Ø 120 b:Ø 130 c:Ø 110 d:Ø 100


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05	04	03	02	01

10	09	08	07	06

15	14	13	12	11

20	19	18	17	16

25	24	23	22	21

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Description

During the Kamakura and Muromachi periods (1185-1568), Zen Buddhists and Daimyo warlords avidly collected objects from the Song and Yuan periods in China. This material, called karamono, inspired Japanese craftsmen to produce finely lacquered wooden objects. The most notable type, Negoro ware, has a layer of vermilion lacquer over a base coat of iron black. The name derives from Negoro-ji, a Buddhist temple where the technique was developed and these wares were first made for everyday and ritual purposes. After years of use, the surface layer of vermilion wears away in an irregular manner, resulting in the mottled red and black surface for which these objects are highly valued. Negoro ware, which includes tables, trays, wine flasks, ewers, food vessels and drinking cups, was produced in great quantities until the destruction of the Negoro-ji temple by the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in I585. At that time, all records of lacquer production were lost. However, its use is well documented in paintings from the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. The great majority of surviving Negoro ware is held in Buddhist temples in Japan (see Kawada, 1985, for many illustrations). The distinctive sake flask (sashi daru) and food bowls (zengu) shown here would have been used in a temple or elite residence. The subtle forms of the deep bowls with their slightly flaring bodies and both high-and low-footed bases are reminiscent of earlier Chinese lacquer ware imported to Japan. The four bowls are reported to form two sets of bowl and cover, as shown in Kawada (1985: pls. 258-9).

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Material and technique

carved wood with lacquer

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Condition
Acquisition name
Date of entry into collection
Acquisition backgroundThe bowls were stated by the vendor to have come from Nara.
Ownership, current statusSainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia

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Reference material	Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, Edited by Steven Hooper, III Plecolumbian, Asian, Egyptian and European Antiquities, Yale University Press
Reference pictures
Past exhibitions
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Japanese Buddhist Art in European Collections

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