A very unusual motif for this artist, the long-tailed white cock by Yokoishi Gagyu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Niwatori Kabin. It is 17 cm (6-3/4 inches) diameter, 24 cm (9-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition. I have never seen before this design by this artist.
Yokoishi Gagyu XIII (b. 1935) had his first exhibited piece at the age of 20 in 1955 take the governors prize at the Nagasaki Kenten Prefectural Art Exhibition. That was the beginning of a prestigious career prolific with awards culminating in being named an important cultural property for Nagasaki prefecture in 1975 (the state version of a living national treasure) he has also displayed with the Nihon Dento Kogeiten (National Traditional Crafts Exhibition) among many others, and has an impressive number of private exhibitions. He is credited with reviving the lost art of Utsutsukawa-yaki, and is a very important figure in modern Arita.
