A stunning Natsume Tea Urn in various shades of glimmering gold on black by Wada Kinsai (Kitaro) enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Mizu-gusa Maki-e O-Natsume. It is 7.5 cm (3 inches) diameter, slightly taller and in excellent condition.
The Wada Kitaro workshop was founded in 1902 in Yamanaka, Ishikawa Prefecture, by the first-generation master Kitarō, who established the art name Kinsai. He was instrumental in training numerous lacquer artisans, served on the Yamanaka Cultural Property Protection Committee, contributed to the excavation and preservation of the old Kutani kilns, and maintained close ties with the literatus Hosono Entai. His successor, the second-generation, graduated from the Department of Lacquer Arts at the Kanazawa College of Art and exhibited widely at national and regional exhibitions, including the Nitten, the Hokuriku Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition, and the Japan Craft Exhibition, receiving the top prize at the Ishikawa Industrial Arts Exhibition and the Grand Prix at the Yamanaka Exhibition. He held solo shows at major department stores such as Matsuya Ginza, Seibu Ikebukuro, and Daiwa Kanazawa, as well as at galleries and cultural institutions. Beyond his practice as an artist, he served as Director of the Yamanaka Lacquerware Research Institute and later as Chair of the Yamanaka Town Board of Education, contributing significantly to the preservation and advancement of lacquer artistry in the region.
