TWO JAPANESE CAST-IRON KETTLES AND COVERS

TWO JAPANESE CAST-IRON KETTLES AND COVERS, TETSUBIN

MEIJI PERIOD OR LATER, 19TH OR 20TH CENTURY

One with a rough ishime (stone texture) surface decorated with a dragon emerging from clouds, its curling tail visible on the reverse, the other with a pattern of raised dots, arare, and a seal mark underneath the spout, both lids with finials shaped as flower buds, together with an iron dish shaped as a large lotus leaf, signed Nobumitsu saku, in a fitted tomobako wooden box, 30cm max. (6)

Provenance: from the collection of Mr Richard Nathanson (d.2018), London. The tetsubin with dragon purchased from Peter Sloane, London, on 3rd February 2016; the iron dish from Grace Tsumugi, London, on 8th February 2011. Copies of the original invoices are available.

Richard Nathanson began his career at Sotheby's in 1966 and was immediately captivated by Impressionist and early 20th century art. He subsequently set up as an independent art advisor in that field, in which he became well respected and known, in particular for his involvement with the work of artists such as Sisley, Modigliani, Rouault, Bonnard and Albert Houthuesen. During his lifelong career in the art world, Richard expanded his expertise across time and space and gathered an extraordinarily eclectic collection of artworks which included classical, medieval, African, Asian and Oceanic pieces as well as folk art, natural forms and early toys. As he learnt more about these cultures and the art they inspired, his profound admiration for them grew, broadening his spiritual and philosophical outlook. He observed the intense affinities between these pieces, sometimes separated by millennia and thousands of miles and was fascinated by the conversations that arose between these various expressions of human experience. Richard felt that art had the ability to give hope and inspiration in the human quest for truth and beauty.