An exquisite tea pot of Oribe-style pottery covered in black lacquer with intricate designs in gold maki-e. It is 8.5 x 7.5 x 5.5 cm (3-1/2 x 3 x 2 inches) and is in excellent condition, wrapped in a padded silk pouch and enclosed in a custom made wooden box.
The Toyoraku tradition began in the mid 1700s, however it was the fourth generation head of the household (Toyosuke IV 1813~1858) who moved the kiln to Kamimaezu in Nagoya and began applying lacquer and Maki-e to the works. He was succeeded by his son, Toyosuke V (d. 1885) who passed the kiln to his own son Toyosuke VI, (d. 1917), who was highly lauded in his lifetime and made pottery on order of the Meiji emperor, his pieces being selected for international exhibition. The family lineage ended in the Taisho period.
According to Yasuhiro Nakano, Assistant Director of the Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum: “Toyoraku ware is a soft pottery which was produced in Maezu in the southern part of Naka-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, for more than 130 years from the late Edo period to the Taisho era”. Also called "Horakuyaki", it is characterized by floral imagery with splashes of green copper glaze.
