Japanese cloisonné vase with butterflies signed Andō Jūbei Meij period

Japanese cloisonné enamel vase finely worked in silver wires decorated beneath the rounded shoulder with three butterflies in flight against a dark blue ground, the base stamped with the mark of Andō Jūbei, Meiji period (1868-1912). The distinctive cross-shaped mark derives from the Japanese character for ‘ten’ ( 十, Jū) which is the first syllable of the name Jūbei.

The butterfly (chouchou 蝶々) is a symbol of rebirth, beauty and renewal.

The Andō Cloisonné Company was founded in 1880 by Maeda Matsukichi 前田松吉 who was later joined by Andō Juzaburo known as Andō Jūbei I 安藤重兵衛 (1876-1953). In 1891 and 1892 the Imperial Household purchased several pieces from the company. 

During the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taishō (1912-1926) periods, they were awarded medals at many Expositions: in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1900 at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, in 1901 at the Glasgow International Exhibition, in 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, in 1910 at the London Japan-British Exhibition and in 1926 at the Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia.

Reference: ‘The Art of Japanese Cloisonné Enamel: History, Techniques and Artists, 1600 to the Present’, by Frederich T. Schneider, North Carolina, 2010, pg. 241, no.4.

'Meiji no Takara 明治の宝 Treasures of Imperial Japan, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection', the Kibo Foundation 1995, Enamel Vol. III, no. 38.

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