Lot 76: Ban'ura Shogo (1901-1982) A square lacquer tray , Showa era (1926-1989), c. 1960

BAN’URA SHOGO (1901-1982)
A square lacquer tray,
Showa era (1926-1989), c. 1960
Designed with flaring sides, the interior
decorated in gold and red takamaki-e with
stylized waves, the rims and reverse roiro with
a rectangular recessed foot of orange lacquer,
signed in raised gold lacquer Ban
With wood tomobako inscribed on the exterior
of the lid: Ushiyo mon ho-bachi (Water-current
motif squared bowl), signed Ban and
sealed Ban saku 15 1/8 x 15 1/8 x 1 3/4in (38.3 x 38.3 x 4.4cm)

One of the major figures of twentieth-century
Japanese lacquer, Ban’ura Shogo studied
lacquer techniques in his native Ishikawa
Prefecture before moving to Kyoto in 1925:
his first appearance at the Tokyo national salon
came with the eleventh Teiten exhibition (1930)
and his work was awarded prizes at the Bunten
Kansaten (1936) and the Paris International
Exhibition held in 1937, when he also became
Director of the Kyoto Kogeiin (Kyoto Crafts
Institute). In 1945, he formed the Sojinsha group,
expanding it into the Shugenkai 1953. In 1961,
he became director of the Nitten exhibition, and
also formed the Kyoto Shitsugeika Kyokai (Kyoto
Lacquer Ware Artists’ Association). Ban’ura is
famous for his modernist treatment of naturalist
themes. For other examples of his work, see
Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
no kogei 1910-1940: Dento to henkaku no
hazama ni (Crafts Reforming in Kyoto [1910
– 1940], A Struggle Between Tradition and
Renovation), Kyoto, 1998, pp. 137-139. His
work was shown at Kyoto Municipal Museum of
Art in 1985 in an exhibition “Master Craftsman of
Modern Lacquer Ware: Banura Shogo Exhibit.”
Two of his works are in the collection of Tokyo
National Museum of Modern Art.
A two-panel screen by Ban’ura Shogo was sold
in these Rooms, September 15, 2015, lot 3118.