Kamisaka Sekka was a leading Kyoto designer and nihonga painter, credited by many as the father of Modern Japanese Design in the early 20th century.  He re-interpreted the pure Japanese rinpa style of design, rejecting Chinese influence, and taking inspiration from the Japanese Classics.

The design of this piece shows Ariwara no Narihira – a poet whose works are collected in the Heian literary classic, The Tales of Ise – in the context of perhaps his most famous poem immortalising the eight-fold bridge over an iris-filled marsh, yatsuhashi. It is a scenario that has inspired Japanese artists for over a thousand years. In Sekka’s rinpa interpretation, the poet sits in contemplation against a shimmering, black lacquer ground.  A series of bold, lacquer devices, is used to depict the figure. His coat and hat are formed of rough lead sheet inlay that counterpoints the rich gold makie of the trousers. The ethereal pallor of the mother-of-pearl, raden, inlay used for the face suggests a moonlit setting. The black ground is agitated.

Opening the box reveals a single iris, its flower-head formed of meticulously pieced mother-of-pearl, and its leaves in gold hiramakie, set against the inky stillness of a watery location rendered in mirror-smooth black lacquer.  The subtle restlessness of the exterior has been calmed in preparation for writing.  

The execution of the work is by Sekka’s brother – the lacquerist, Kamisaka Yukichi.