A lidded bottle by Kashima Kazuo inlayed with silver designs enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Nunome Zogan Kinsai Kazari Tsubo. It is 12.4 cm (5 inches) diameter, 18 cm (7-1/4 inches) tall and in perfect condition.
Nunome Zogan (Textile Pattern Inlay) is a metal inlay technique where fine vertical and horizontal grooves are engraved into a base metal using a Tagane (chisel). Thin sheets of gold, silver, or lead are then embedded into these grooves. The crisscrossed grooves resemble the weave of fabric, which is said to be the origin of the name "Nunome Zogan" (textile-pattern inlay). The first-generation Kashima master developed a unique Japanese variation of the Nunome Zogan technique. This version, called Kashima Nunome, was specially adapted for Japan’s traditional colored metals like Shakudo (black patinated copper-gold alloy) and Shibuichi (silver-copper alloy). In Tokyo, the Kashima family was regarded as the leading authority on Nunome Zogan.
Kashima Kazuo is the 5th generation head of the Kashima family. Born in 1958 as the second son of Japanese-style painter Hiroyuki Hiraide, he studied directly under his Grandfather, Living National Treasure Kashima Ikkoku, the 4th generation head of the family, and Kazuo carries on the Kashima tradition. In recent years, he has held exhibitions and workshops overseas (including in the United States and China). He was a pivotal figure in the 2020 Takaoka Art Museum Exhibition on contemporary Metal Art, held in the National Museum of Modern Art (Kokuritsu Kogei Kan) and is recognized as one of Japan’s leading metal artists.
