Item number: X74

Year: AD 1898-1984

Material: Bronze

Size: 285 x 74.1 mm

Weight: 745 g

Provenance: Osaka Minami Art Museum Co., Ltd. 2008

This bronze vase with dragon-shaped handles is attributed to Hata Zōroku IV.

The vessel features a flared rim, which may also be classified as a washer-shaped mouth, terminated by a ring-shaped edge. It possesses a prolonged neck that slopes gently at the shoulders to meet a suspended-belly body. This particular silhouette appears to be a stylistic variation of the gall-bladder vase (danping) or the jade-paten spring vase (yuhuchunping), both of which gained widespread popularity in China from the Tang and Song dynasties onwards. The neck is embellished with a taotie motif, characterised by a prominent head without a body, eyes devoid of eyebrows, curved horns upon the forehead, a central nose, and ears flanking the head. While this specific representation of a headless and bodiless taotie typically originates from the mid-to-late Shang to the mid-Western Zhou period, its application here represents a creative adaptation by the artist, Zōroku, at the time of fabrication. Flanking this central taotie band are two loop handles fashioned in the form of dragons, a design convention that began to flourish during the Sui and Tang dynasties. The base terminates in a ring foot, subtly adorned with three delicate concentric rings. The interior of the ring foot is incised with the signature ‘Zōroku zō’ (蔵六造).

The lid of the accompanying original wooden box (tomobako) bears the ink inscription: ‘Shōkadō Denrai / Ryūmimi Hanaire no Utsushi / Suikokyo / Zōroku zō’ (松花堂伝来 / 竜耳花生之写 / 邃古居 / 蔵六造). This legend indicates that the form of this dragon-handled vase was derived from a celebrated piece once held by the eminent monk Shōkadō Shōjō, whilst the maker is identified by the studio name Suikokyo, belonging to the lineage of master metalsmiths operating under the art-name Hata Zōroku. ‘Hanaire’ (花生), also termed ‘hanaire’ (花入), constitutes the specific nomenclature designated for flower vessels within the tradition of Japanese ikebana. Beneath the signature ‘Zōroku zō’, a vermilion seal reads ‘Zōroku IV’ (四世蔵六) in seal script; a second seal directly below it, by comparison with other extant artefacts, likely denotes the sexagenary cyclical year of production, though its exact characters remain illegible due to wear and abrasion. The underside of the box is inscribed with ‘Seidō Hanaire’ (青銅花生, bronze flower vase), accompanied by a faint vermilion seal whose partially discernible characters resemble ‘門’ (gate) and ‘形’ (form) in seal script, the precise reading of which requires further investigation.

The lineage’s founder, Hata Zōroku I, was born in Otagi District, Yamashiro Province (present-day southern Kyoto Prefecture), and was known in his youth as Yonezō. At the age of twenty-two, he relocated to Kyoto to apprentice under Ryūbundo II, a pre-eminent master of cast-iron kettles. Establishing his independence a mere year later, he dedicated his career to the rigorous study of ancient Chinese bronzes from the Shang, Zhou, and Han dynasties, mastering the intricate technique of lost-wax casting (rōgata chūzō). Zōroku I travelled extensively throughout the Yamato region to study ancient metalwork firsthand, resulting in archaistic Chinese-style bronzes of a refinement that was unsurpassed in his era. His supreme technical mastery earned him patronage from both the Shogunate and the Imperial Court. Towards the end of the Edo period, he was commissioned to cast bronze seals for Emperor Kōmei, as well as the solid gold seal of office, ‘Sei-i Taishōgun’, for the final Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu. In AD 1873 (the sixth year of the Meiji era), he received an imperial commission from the Ministry of the Imperial Household to cast the Privy Seal of the Meiji Emperor (Gyoji) and the Great Seal of Japan (Kokuji), cementing his reputation as a national master of metalwork and establishing his studio name, ‘Suikokyo’. Following the demise of the founder in AD 1890, his son succeeded to the title as Hata Zōroku II. Although detailed historical records concerning his exact dates of birth and death are sparse, he operated during a period when the culture of senchado (steeped tea ceremony) and literati aesthetics reached their zenith in Japan; consequently, a substantial corpus of flower vessels by his hand survives today. Hata Zōroku III, the third son of Zōroku II, was born in Kyoto and studied the familial casting techniques under his father from an early age, exhibiting exceptional artistic aptitude. Zōroku III was not only a highly skilled craftsman but also an influential figure in institutional leadership and industry promotion, serving as the Honorary President of the Kyoto Metal Crafts Association and actively championing the modern transition and development of Kyoto’s traditional metalwork. Hata Zōroku IV trained under both the second and third generations, demonstrating an extraordinary aesthetic sensibility from his youth. While maintaining the traditional archaistic style of Chinese bronzes, he introduced a highly distinctive sense of colouration and surface texture to his creations. After inheriting the family name, he strove to popularise traditional metal crafts among the public by organising frequent solo exhibitions in major cultural centres such as Tokyo and Osaka, elevating the family’s reputation to its peak. In recognition of his supreme artistry, he was officially designated a ‘Holder of Traditional Techniques’ by the Japanese authorities and served as the President of the Kyoto Metal Crafts Association. Hata Zōroku V succeeded to the family business during the late Shōwa period, consistently adhering to the laborious and un-mechanised lost-wax casting method during an era of post-war industrialisation that heavily disrupted traditional Japanese handicrafts. Hata Zōroku VI, the son of the fifth generation, was born Hata Tsunezō. Upon graduating from the Faculty of Letters at Doshisha University, he formally commenced his apprenticeship under his father, inheriting the title of Hata Zōroku and the strictly guarded, single-lineage family tradition. As the contemporary successor of this house, Zōroku VI crafts imposing bronze vessels that respect ancient Chinese prototypes while engaging in innovative, modern artistic practices. His most signature aesthetic contribution involves the meticulous application of gold leaf to the bronze surfaces, simulating a weathered, naturally peeling, and mottled patina that evokes the passage of epochs. This visual vocabulary, which seamlessly bridges the archaic spirit of the Shang and Zhou dynasties with the modern aesthetic of wabi-sabi, is highly esteemed by contemporary collectors. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Kyoto Metal Crafts Cooperative, continuing to promote the traditional metal arts of Kyoto in the modern era.

Shōkadō Shōjō (AD 1584–1639) was an eminent monk, tea master, calligrapher, and painter of the early Edo period in Japan, celebrated alongside Konoe Nobutada and Hon’ami Kōetsu as one of the ‘Three Pens of the Kan’ei Era’ (Kan’ei no Sanpitsu). For a significant portion of his life, he lived in seclusion at ‘Shōkadō’—a thatched cottage located within the precincts of the Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū Shrine on Mount Otoko in Kyoto. Possessing profound aesthetic erudition, Shōjō was highly accomplished in ink-wash painting and waka poetry; furthermore, he seamlessly integrated refined literati sensibilities into the practice of the tea ceremony, maintaining an extensive circle of association with contemporary tea masters, including Kobori Enshū. Shōjō’s idiosyncratic aesthetic vision exerted a profound and enduring influence on subsequent generations of craftsmanship. The specific forms and styles of vessels he favoured or designed came to be reverently designated as ‘Shōkadō-gata’ (Shōkadō style) or ‘Shōkadō-konomi’ (Shōkadō preference), as exemplified by the literati-style, narrow-necked flower vases with dragon-shaped handles. Even the distinctive four-compartment lacquered boxes of the famous ‘Shōkadō bentō’ in modern Japanese cuisine trace their inspiration back to the vessels he originally used to hold tobacco and writing utensils. He thus stands as a pivotal figure who steered Japanese lifestyle aesthetics and material culture during the Kan’ei era. In the second half of the nineteenth century, following the Meiji government’s policy of separating Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu bunri), the thatched cottage was relocated from the Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū Shrine. Today, the site has been preserved and transformed into the Shōkadō Garden and Art Museum, remaining open for public visitation.

During the modernization currents of the early twentieth century, the reception and reproduction of ancient Chinese bronzes in Japan underwent a profound paradigm shift. Under the influence of the senchado and literati cultural traditions of the Meiji and Taishō periods, Japanese connoisseurs had long favoured transmitted, heirloom bronzes known as jukukō (ripe patina)—vessels characterized by lustrous, polished surfaces developed through centuries of handling—relying on traditional Chinese antiquarian catalogues such as the Song dynasty Xuanhe Bogu Tulu and the Qing dynasty Xiqing Gujian to authenticate forms and decipher inscriptions. However, after the AD 1920s, with the influx into the market of newly excavated bronzes plundered from monumental tombs in Anyang (Yinxu) and Luoyang (Jincun) in Henan Province, the aesthetic preferences of collectors and scholars experienced a fundamental reorientation. There emerged a distinct preference for shōkō (raw patina) bronzes—unpolished vessels still encrusted with soil, variegated corrosion, and untouched malachite patination, whose preserved earth encrustations and organic residues offered superior authenticity and diagnostic value for connoisseurs. Simultaneously, championed by pioneering scholars such as Hamada Kōsaku and Umehara Sueji, the disciplines of modern archaeology and art history—which introduced stratigraphical context, typological analysis, and precise anatomical cross-sectional drawings—gradually superseded and replaced traditional epigraphical and antiquarian methodologies that had historically dominated bronze research, fundamentally transforming the scholarly and aesthetic appreciation of these ancient wares.

物件編號: X74

年代: 公元 1898-1984 年

材料: 青銅

尺寸: 285 x 74.1 mm

重量: 745 g

來源: 大阪南美術会館 2008

這是一支銅製龍耳花瓶，應由四代秦藏六所造。

瓶口外侈，或可稱為洗口，口緣呈環。瓶頸較長，與瓶腹交接處溜肩，瓶腹則為垂腹。器型可能變化自中國唐宋以後流行的膽瓶或玉壺春瓶。瓶頸有饕餮紋，有首無身，目上無眉，額上有彎角，中央有鼻，首側有耳。有首無身的饕餮紋多出於商代中晚期至西周中期，此處應為當時藏六的創作。饕餮紋兩側有提耳，以龍為造型。以龍為提耳的形制始流行於隋唐。瓶底為圈足，設有三道細環為飾。圈足內有識銘「蔵六造」。

所附原箱上蓋書有「松花堂伝來 / 竜耳花生之写 / 邃古居 / 蔵六造」，代表此龍耳花瓶的器型來自名僧松花堂昭乘，製作者則為堂號邃古居，以秦藏六為名號的工匠家族。「花生」則為日本花道中對於花器的稱呼，也稱「花入」。「蔵六造」下朱字紅印為篆書「四世蔵六」，其下方第二印參考其他文物可能為干支紀年，因刻痕漫漶而難以辨別。箱底則書有「青銅花生」，朱字紅印隱約可辨認出類似篆書「門、形」之類的文字，詳情待考。

初代秦藏六生於山城國愛宕郡（今京都府南部），幼名米藏。其於22歲時前往京都，投身於當時鑄鐵壺巨擘「第二代龍文堂」門下學習鑄造技術，並在僅僅一年後獨立，開始傾全力專研中國商周、兩漢時期的古青銅器與「撥蠟法」（即失蠟法）。初代藏六多次親自往返於大和地區考證古代金屬器物，其所仿鑄的中國古銅器精緻程度冠絕天下。他的高超技藝獲得了幕府與皇室的雙重認同，江戶末期，他受命為孝明天皇鑄造銅印，並為末代將軍德川慶喜鑄造「征夷大將軍」黃金印。明治六年（公元1873年），他更榮膺宮內省之命，親自鑄造了明治天皇的「御璽」與「大日本國璽」。自此，初代秦藏六成為國家級的金工大師，並創立堂號「邃古居」。在初代藏六於公元1890年逝世後，其子繼承衣缽成為第二代秦藏六。雖然歷史文獻中關於其具體生卒年的詳細記載較少。此時日本煎茶道文化與文人美學極為盛行，故二代藏六有許多花道器物遺存。第三代秦藏六為第二代藏六的三男，生於京都，早年隨父親學習家傳鑄金技法，展露出極高的藝術天分。三代藏六不僅工藝技術精湛，更在社會組織與行業推廣上大有作為。他曾擔任京都金屬工藝名譽會長，積極推動京都傳統金工在近現代的轉型與發展。第四代秦藏六師從第二代與第三代，自幼便展現出過人的美學天賦，在繼承傳統的中國青銅器仿古風格之餘，他還融入了自己獨特的色彩感與表面肌理處理技術。第四代襲名後，為了讓傳統金工走向大眾，他在東京、大阪等地頻繁舉辦個人展覽，將家族名聲推向高峰。他憑藉著高超的藝術造詣，被日本官方評定為「技術保持資格者」，並出任京都金屬工藝協會長。第五代秦藏六在昭和後期繼承家業。在二戰後日本傳統手工藝受到現代工業化衝擊的年代，五代藏六始終堅守著繁複、無法量產的蠟型鑄造法。第六代秦藏六為五代之子，本名秦恒造。他於同志社大學文學部畢業後，正式跟隨父親修行，繼承了「秦藏六」的名號與一子相傳的家學。作為當代傳人，六代藏六在繼承古代中國青銅器莊嚴器形的同時，進行了富有現代感的藝術嘗試。他最標誌性的個人風格是在青銅器物表面，運用獨特手法點綴金箔，模擬出金箔隨著漫長歲月自然剝落、斑駁滄桑的視覺效果。這種兼具商周古意與現代侘寂美學的意象，深受當代收藏家喜愛。目前，他擔任京都金屬工藝協同組合理事長，持續在現代推廣京都的傳統金屬工藝。

松花堂昭乘（生卒公元1584至1639年）為日本江戶時代初期的著名僧侶、茶人、書家與畫家，亦是與近衛信尹、本阿彌光悅齊名的「寬永三筆」之一。他長期隱居於京都男山石清水八幡宮的草「松花堂」，其美學造詣極深，不僅精通水墨與和歌，更將高雅的文人品味融入茶道，與當時的茶道大師小堀遠州等人交遊甚廣。昭乘獨特的審美眼光對後世工藝影響深遠，其所鍾愛、設計的器物形制被尊稱為「松花堂好」或「松花堂形」（如文人風格的細頸龍耳花瓶），甚至連現代日本料理中著名的「松花堂便當」四格漆盒，其靈感亦是源自他當年盛放煙草與文具的器皿，堪稱是寬永文化時期引領日本生活美學與器物風尚的關鍵巨擘。在十九世紀下半葉，明治政府「神佛分離」後，草庵自清水八幡宮搬離，今已成為松花堂庭園美術館，供遊客觀覽。

在二十世紀早期的現代化潮流中，日本對中國古青銅器的受容與仿製經歷了深刻的範式轉移。在明治、大正時期的煎茶道與文人文化傳統下，日本鑑賞家長期偏愛經過百年撫玩摩挲、表面色澤瑩潤的「熟坑」傳世銅器，並仰賴宋代《宣和博古圖》和清代《西清古鑑》等傳統金石學圖錄來考證器形與釋讀銘文。然而，公元1920年代後，隨著河南安陽殷墟、洛陽金村等大型墓葬盜掘出土的新穎青銅器大量湧入市場，藏家與學者的審美品味發生了根本性的轉變，開始轉而追求器表覆蓋著斑斕土鏽與原生態綠青、未經上蠟磨光的「生坑」青銅器，因為這些「土中古色」與有機質殘留更具真實性與鑑定價值。與此同時，在濱田耕作、梅原末治等學者的推動下，引入地層出土脈絡、類型學和客觀解剖線繪等方法的現代考古學與美術史學，逐漸凌駕並取代了過去以銘文釋讀、考證為主的傳統金石學研究，審美也隨之轉變。