Japanese pair of cloisonné enamel vases signed Hayashi Kodenji Meiji period

Japanese pair of cloisonné enamel vases worked in silver and gold wire decorated with sparrows in flight and some perched on bamboo branches on a dark blue ground.
The neck and foot with a band of geometric motifs applied with silver mounts, stamped with the lozenge-shape seal mark and signed Aichi Hayashi yaki 愛知林焼 (cloisonné by Hayashi Kodenji, Aichi Prefecture) with fitted wood stands and tomobako storage boxes, late Meiji period (1868-1912). 

The sparrow (suzume 雀) is symbolic of happiness and prosperity. 

Hayashi Kodenji I 林小伝次 (1831-1915) was one of the most important cloisonné artists of his era. In the 1880s he founded the Shippō-chō enamelers guild and later opened a school to teach emerging cloisonné artists. It is believed that he worked for the Shippo Kaisha in Nagoya around 1880-1881. In 1903 he opened a showroom in Nagoya and worked for over 40 years with his son Hayashi Kodenji II (Suguemon). This close working relationship makes it very difficult to distinguish the work of the two artists.

He was recognised at the World Expositions by winning many medals and awards: in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1889 at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, and in 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. In 1902 he was awarded the most prestigious Medal of the Green Ribbon in Japan.

The business continued through the years under the successive leadership of Kodenji III (Hayashi Tomijirō) and Kodenji IV (Kurakichi).

Reference: ‘The Art of Japanese Cloisonné Enamel: History, Techniques and Artists, 1600 to the Present’, by Frederich T. Schneider, North Carolina, 2010.

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