JAPANESE KUTANI COVERED TEACUPS Exquisite Hand Painting with Micro-Calligraphy. Wonderful detail and vibrant colors decorate these beautiful hand painted Kutani teacups. Polychrome enamels depict wise sages, elegant women, and samurai, all clad in ornately brocaded kimonos. Beautifully painted with minute detail that would have taken the artisan many hours to produce. The interior of this fine cup is adorned with difficult to execute micro calligraphy, known as saiji, which takes great skill and many years of practice to master. Only a few individuals can produce such fine brushstrokes while working on the interior of a porcelain vessel. The circular lid bears additional figures. Measuring approximately 4 1/4" high, this pair of elegant teacups is in excellent condition with no chips or cracks. Signed on the underside.

Measurements:

Large cup to top of lid: approx. 4.25" tall by 2.5" wide by 3" deep. Weight: 8.4 oz.
Small cup to top of lid: approx. 4" tall by 2.25" wide by 2.75" deep. Weight: 6.6 oz.

Condition: excellent

A unique feature of these cups is the application of fine calligraphy called saiji (細字), which is miniature in size. The founder of this art is considered to be Oda Seizan (小田清山), who first pioneered this form in the early Meiji era.[25] He wrote classical Chinese poems inside tea and sake cups with the thinnest brushes. By 1900 he also started writing in Japanese characters. Among his accomplishments were writing all the poems of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu inside a Western-style cup three centimeters in diameter, and 500 waka poems of the Meiji Emperor inside a Japanese teacup. His son-in-law Tamura Keisei continued the craft and passed it on to his grandson Tamura Keisei 田村敬星 (b. 1949), who continues the art. He writes the calligraphy also on the outside of vessels such as incense burners. In 2005, he was designated an Intangible Cultural Property by the Ishikawa Prefecture government.[26][27].

Condition: overall good antique condition: no repairs, no cracks, no hairlines.

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