{"product_id":"neriage-tsubo-by-lnt-ー松井-康成-練上華文壷","title":"Neriage Tsubo by LNT ー松井 康成 “練上華文壷”","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn exceptional neriage vessel by Living National Treasure Matsui Kōsei, enclosed in its original signed wooden box titled Neriage Kamon Tsubo. The full, almost spherical form is covered with a dense profusion of flowers created entirely through Matsui's manipulation of differently colored clays. Layers of white, pale grey and charcoal clay open into individual blossoms, each surrounded by swirling striations that merge one flower almost imperceptibly into the next. Small touches of gold at the centers provide restrained points of warmth within the cool monochrome surface. Rather than decoration applied upon the vessel, the floral imagery emerges from the laminated clay itself, transforming neriage into an extraordinarily painterly medium while retaining the geological quality inherent to the technique. The broad unglazed foot offers a particularly revealing glimpse of the underlying strata from which the intricate surface was formed. It measures 23.5 cm (9-1\/4 inches) in diameter and 20.5 cm (8 inches) tall and is in excellent condition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Japan Times wrote “Kosei Matsui, a designated living national treasure, fused traditional techniques with his own creative expression to craft beautiful ceramics.”  Kosei was born in Nagano in 1927.  A deeply spiritual individual, he graduated the literature department of the prestigious Meiji University in 1957, then entered the priesthood, finding the life of a Buddhist recluse suited him.  He was granted the temple Gessoji in Kasama three years later.  There he established a kiln where he experimented with ancient Chinese and Korean techniques, including Neriage. In an effort to further his technique he began studying with (future) Living National Tresure Tamura Koichi, and began to submit works in earnest to public viewing in the late 60s.  He was first recognized at the Dento Kogei Shinsakuten (National Traditional New Crafts Exhibition) in 1970. Following several more prizes there, he was awarded at the Nihon Dento Kogeiten National Traditional Crafts Exhibition two years later, and again in '73 at the Nihon Togeiten National Ceramics Exhibition.  Shortly after that he was granted the important Japan Ceramics Society Award in 1974.  Throughout his career he was highly lauded, receiving among many others the Order of Cultural Merrit (1988) as well as the JCS Gold Prize (1990); finally garnering the title Ningen Kokuho in 1993 and the Order of the Rising Sun from his majesty three years before his death in 2003.  He is held in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN National Museums of Modern Art, both Kyoto and Tokyo, Victoria and Albert, Saint Louis Art Museum, Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum and Art Institute of Chicago among many others.  For more see Japanese Ceramics in American Collections (Baekeland, Frederick. 1993), Toh: vol.89 (1993), Japanese Studio Crafts: Tradition and the Avant-garde (Rupert Faulkner) or Japanese Ceramics for the Twenty-first Century (2014).\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matsui Kosei","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51311186739447,"sku":"MC1755","price":884800.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0658\/7472\/3063\/files\/2026-08-0514.59.45.jpg?v=1791965247","url":"https:\/\/kuramonzen.com\/products\/neriage-tsubo-by-lnt-%e3%83%bc%e6%9d%be%e4%ba%95-%e5%ba%b7%e6%88%90-%e7%b7%b4%e4%b8%8a%e8%8f%af%e6%96%87%e5%a3%b7","provider":"Kura Monzen Gallery","version":"1.0","type":"link"}