Ritual sake bottles, made in pairs, were used in Shinto shrines to offer sake to the deities. Most of these sake vessels are Negoro lacquers. This heishi is black lacquer with butterflies painted in red lacquer. The pattern suggests that the sake vessel might have been used in a Bugaku music and dance performance, where butterflies are common motifs.
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蝶漆絵根来瓶子
Title:Sake Vessel (Heishi) with Butterflies
Period:Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Date:15th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Wood with black and red lacquer; gold leaf application
Dimensions:H. 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm)
Classification:Lacquer
Credit Line:Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Accession Number:2015.300.295
Negoro-ware sake bottles, or heishi, were often made in pairs and used in Shinto shrines to hold the sake, or rice wine, offered to native deities.[1]
Most Negoro utensils have a coat of red lacquer applied over a base coat of black lacquer. This example, however, has been covered with black lacquer and then decorated with designs and patterns in red. The raised chrysanthemum pattern that radiates from the spout, and, on the shoulders, the design of two facing butterflies are unusual ornamental features, as most heishi are undecorated. One butterfly is outlined in red lacquer and filled in with short strokes to represent patterns for the wings and body, while the contours of the other butterfly are defined simply by a field of red lacquer. Both designs are highlighted with gold leaf. The design of butterflies suggests that this heishi, which is lightweight and easily carried, may have been used in Bugaku, a type of courtly music and dance performance practiced in Japan since the Nara period, in which butterflies are a common motif. A character in one such work, known as Kotokuraku, is named Heishitori (Wine Bearer).[2]
The construction and design of this heishi are generally consistent with those of other Negoro sake vessels.[3] X-ray photography has revealed that the wood core is composed of two parts that have been cut and hollowed on a lathe and then joined at the shoulders (fig. 37). The spout was carved separately and inserted in the top. GWN
[Miyeko Murase 2000, Bridge of Dreams]
[1] The mate to the Burke heishi is reproduced in Tanaka Hisao 1987, pp. 191, 233. [2] Nishikawa Kyōtarō 1978, pp. 44–45. [3] Kawada Sadamu 1985, p. 307.
Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation , New York (until 2015; donated to MMA)
Richmond. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Jewel Rivers: Japanese Art from The Burke Collection.," October 25, 1993–January 2, 1994.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art. "Jewel Rivers: Japanese Art from The Burke Collection.," February 26, 1994–April 24, 1994.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Jewel Rivers: Japanese Art from The Burke Collection.," October 14, 1994–January 1, 1995.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Japanese Art from The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 30–June 25, 2000.
Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," July 5, 2005–August 19, 2005.
Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 4, 2005–December 11, 2005.
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," January 24, 2006–March 5, 2006.
Miho Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 15, 2006–June 11, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.
Tsuji Nobuo 辻惟雄, Mary Griggs Burke, Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha 日本経済新聞社, and Gifu-ken Bijutsukan 岐阜県美術館. Nyūyōku Bāku korekushon-ten: Nihon no bi sanzennen no kagayaki ニューヨーク・バーク・コレクション展 : 日本の美三千年の輝き(Enduring legacy of Japanese art: The Mary Griggs Burke collection). Exh. cat. [Tokyo]: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha, 2005, p. 75, cat. no. 19.
Murase, Miyeko, Il Kim, Shi-yee Liu, Gratia W. Nakahashi, Stephanie Wada, Soyoung Lee, and David Ake Sensabaugh. Art Through a Lifetime: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection. Vol. 2, Japanese Objects, Korean Art, Chinese Art. [New York]: Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, [2013], p. 126, cat. no. 785.
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