Currently held on consignment at Andrews Oakville
This beautifully sculpted and handblown work of Japanese art glass is by the glassworks Sanyu, from the 'Narumi Fantasy' series that is characterised by its candy and jewel-like colour palette.
The form is superbly organic with the 10 lobes of the vase gathered into 5 pairs to create the pleat effect, making the piece very tactile and providing an exceptionally prismatic ability. The colour palette only contains the 3 colours of Tourmaline pink, Topaz blue and Citrine yellow but as these sweep up the sides of the vase, they are magnified and overlapped in the clear exterior casing creating additional tones of green, purple and orange depending on which face of the vase is turned to.
There is a further layer of hidden magic within this piece that becomes apparent when it is placed in the pathway of sunlight and surrounding surfaces light up from the refractions.
The enchanting quality of the captured colours and the uniqueness of being handblown makes this statement piece suitable for display or functionally, as a simply accented Ikebana vase.
CONDITION
Superb. No chips or cracks or damage, There is mild wear, predominantly movement marks on the underside of the base that is commensurate with age. Please refer to photos as they form part of the condition report.
MEASUREMENTS
Height: c. 9.5" / c. 24 cm tall x c. 5.3" / c. 13.5 cm diameter (across widest point) Rim opening measurements: c. 3.3" / c. 8.5 cm (across widest point). Base measurements: c. 2.8" / c. 7 cm. Unpackaged weight c. 2.2 kg / 2,165 g
A BIT OF HISTORY
Sanyu Glass Co. is based in Osaka, Japan and has been producing art glass since the 1950s. Similar to other better-known Japanese glassworks of Iwatsu and Hineri, the quality and style are often mistaken for Murano and Czech glass from the same era.
Though knowledge of Japanese glassworks is scarce in Western countries, what is known is that the quality of Japanese art glass from the 1950s to the 1970s rivalled that of Murano, Scandinavian, and Czech glass production. Recognition has been relatively low and most pieces imported into the Western market are often simply marked with the word 'Foreign' or not at all. It is rare to discover pieces with the original glassworks or importing company's label.