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A Japanese Gold Splashed Bronze GU Form Vase browse these categories for related items... All Items: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Metalwork: Pre 1920: item # 974989
Ruyi Studio San Francisco By Appointment San Francisco, CA 94131 415.990.3524 Guest Book $2100.00 |
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| A Japanese Gold Splashed Bronze GU Form Vase. Taisho Period (circa 1910-20). Inspired by the distant rather than recent past, this strikingly modernist Japanese bronze embodies a rejection of European-influenced and over-decorated bronzes of the previous Meiji period. The base bears a three-character studio mark, written in stylized archaistic Chinese characters much in vogue with the literati class of China and Japan during the Early Republic and Taisho periods. The ancient Chinese bronze wine vessel known as GU–long divorced from its ritual origins and popular as a vase form since at least the Song Dynasty—is here reduced to its essence in a superb expression of understated Japanese minimalism. The dark chocolate colored bronze is the perfect ground for the abstract gold decoration inspired by ancient purple splash Jun Yao Chinese ceramic wares. The usual wide trumpet-shaped ends of the traditional GU form are here only suggested by the subtly flared ends joined at the characteristic raised band at center, the base with its recessed foot* only slightly wider than the mouthrim and given added visual gravity by two simple string band decorations in relief. This is a well-cast, resonant bronze enhanced by its impressive physical weight. An homage to Chinese tradition with a touch of verdigris patination to the underside, this small GU form vase reconciles the opposites of ancient and modern, opulence and austerity, avoiding the trendiness of many Japanese art deco bronzes of the period, aiming instead for a timeless elegance perfectly at home with antiquities or in contemporary surroundings. Height: 23.5cm (9-1/4”). Weight: .927kg (2lbs.0.7ounces). Shipping rates include insurance. *Note: Most GU form vases have a distinctive recessed and invisible foot which elevates the object from its display surface imparting a sense of elegant aloofness. See for instance, items 972691 and 969774 in this catalog, representing both a fanciful and conservative variation on this form in bronze and ceramic respectively, both, nevertheless, with the same characteristic footrim. Copyright © 2009 by Robert McCaffrey for RuyiStudio San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. | ||
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