Porcelain vase decorated in the totai shippo technique, Takeuchi Chubei, late 19th century.
Totai-shippo is a general Japanese name for a rare type of cloisonné enamel on porcelain. The separate term jiki-shippo is used for cloisonné enamel with silver wire on porcelain. The most famous master of this complex technique was Takeuchi Chubei (1852-1922) from Nagoya (Aichi Prefecture). His works were exhibited and received awards at international and Japanese national industrial exhibitions.
A pair of porcelain vases decorated with cloisonné enamel, Takeuchi Chubei, height 30.5 cm, late 19th century.
Takeuchi Chubei’s workshop operated in Nagoya in the late 19th century. Most of the workshop’s products were purchased by the Shippo Gaisha export company for shipment to Europe and America.
A pair of porcelain vases decorated with cloisonné enamel depicting dragons hovering over the waves, height 25 cm, Takeuchi Chubei, circa 1880.Fragment of vase decoration.
The photo shows the details of the totai-shippo technique: the design was created using a thin metal wire that was attached to a porcelain blank, forming a continuous pattern in the form of cells, which were then filled with glaze of different colors. Sometimes, not the entire surface of the product was decorated in this way, but only part of it. The whole difficulty is in choosing a combination of metal, ceramics and glaze so that their coefficients of thermal expansion match. And this is a very difficult task. Some researchers believe that Takeuchi Chubei was literally the only master who was able to perfectly master this extremely complex process. Perhaps the difficulty in selecting components explains the limited palette of colors used in totai-shippo.
Rare large porcelain vase decorated with cloisonné enamel, height 58 cm, Takeuchi Chubei, late 19th century.
Takeuchi Chubei is known not only for his totai-shippo works, he developed a unique glaze sold under the Koralen trademark, which is also called ishime-yaki or shark skin. He received a patent for it in 1882. This is a characteristic matte glaze with a textured surface that resembles the roughness of shark skin to the touch. The rough surface was created by painting the ceramic and then dusting it with a powder of special transparent fluxes that melt over a slow fire. Due to its cost, this porcelain was only made for a short time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
A pair of porcelain vases with lids decorated with cloisonné enamel, Takeuchi Chubei, height 27 cm, late 19th century.Porcelain vase with crows among bamboo stems, decorated with cloisonné enamel by Takeuchi Chubei, height 26 cm, late 19th century.Porcelain vase decorated with cloisonné enamel, by Takeuchi Chubei for Shippo Gaisha, height 38.5 cm, late 19th century.A pair of porcelain vases decorated with cloisonné enamel, by Takeuchi Chubei for Shippo Gaisha, height 37 cm, late 19th century.A pair of hexagonal porcelain vases decorated with cloisonné enamel, by Takeuchi Chubei for Shippo Gaisha, height 24.5 cm, late 19th century.Cloisonné porcelain dish by Takeuchi Chubei, late 19th century.Porcelain vase Thousand cranes with handles in the form of lion masks, height 19.4 cm, Takeuchi Chubei, late 19th century.The vase is decorated with gilding, imitating gold inlay on metal.A pair of porcelain vases decorated with cloisonné enamel, by Takeuchi Chubei for Shippo Gaisha, height 35.7 cm, late 19th century.A porcelain tea caddy decorated with cloisonné enamel, by Takeuchi Chubei for Shippo Gaisha, h. 11.5 cm, late 19th century, from the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.Pair of porcelain vases with mounted warriors, decorated with cloisonné enamel, by Takeuchi Chubei for Shippo Gaisha, height 45 cm, late 19th century.Pair of porcelain vases depicting mounted warriors (side 2).A pair of porcelain vases with lids decorated with cloisonné enamel, height 26 cm, late 19th century.A pair of porcelain vases decorated with cloisonné enamel, by Takeuchi Chubei for Shippo Gaisha, height 36 cm, late 19th century.Glaze texture on an ishime yaki vase by Takeuchi Chubei.A pair of porcelain vases decorated with sharkskin enamel, height 30 cm, late 19th century.Porcelain vase with cranes, decorated with sharkskin enamel, 19th century.Porcelain vase with a picture of a morning glory and a grasshopper, decorated with sharkskin enamel, height 18 cm, 19th century.Porcelain vase Squirrel and grapes, decorated with enamel shark skin, height 24.5 cm, 19th century.Porcelain vase with a peony, decorated with sharkskin enamel, height 25.5 cm, 19th century.Porcelain vase decorated with sharkskin enamel, height 31 cm, late 19th century.
