Bronze and glass okimono of a flower by Imaoji Nagamitsu

Bronze and glass okimono of a flower by Imaoji Nagamitsu

Japan, Showa period, 1926 – 1989

Height: 10 1/2 inches, 26.5 cm

A bronze and glass okimono of a flower, the stalks and leaves in metal, the pointed flower petals in glass. Contained within the original tomobako, inscribed Hanamon tokokazari. Heian Nagamitsu. Nagamitsu [Flower (suisen = narcissus shaped) display item, Nagamitsu (Choko), Kyoto, with the seal Nagamitsu (Choko)].

 

Imaoji Nagamitsu was a Kyoto artist. The term okimono in Japanese literally means “object for placement [on display]”. Small sculptures of leaves and flowers were popular in Japan at this time; an iron and hardstone okimono of a wild vine, made in 1927 by Senroku Kithara and now in a private Japanese collection, was included in the 1996 touring exhibition Craft Movements in Japan 1920s – 1945. [1] There is a paperweight in the shape of bells made by the same metal maker.

  1. Various authors: Craft Movements in Japan 1920s – 1945, the Japan Association of Art Museums, the Yomiuri Shimbun, 1996, no. 49, p. 59