Lacquer Plate, The Rabbit - Japan, Kakutaro Yamazaki (1899-1984)

Round candy dish decorated in vermilion lacquer and metallic powder lacquer representing a rabbit. Signed on the front and commemorative dedication on the back. Tomobako. 25 x 6.5cm Kakutaro Yamazaki (1899-1984) is a Japanese master lacquerer whose work spans the Taishō and Shōwa periods. Born on June 29, 1899 in Toyama Prefecture, he joined the lacquer department of the Takaoka School of Technology in 1915, before continuing his training at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, where he excelled to the point of obtaining special student status. In 1925, he distinguished himself on the international scene by winning the gold medal at the Paris World's Fair. This event marked the beginning of a prolific career, marked by a modernization of the art of Japanese lacquer. He introduced color and explored innovative pictorial compositions that freed themselves from the purely utilitarian vocation of lacquered objects. From the end of the 1920s, he taught at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, becoming a professor in 1943. At the same time, he exhibited regularly at the Imperial Exhibition and at various events dedicated to the decorative arts. His style is characterized by concise and dynamic motifs, often inspired by nature and animals. Committed to the recognition of Japanese craftsmanship abroad, he traveled to Europe as a researcher for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and published a book on Parisian lacquerers. He was actively involved in the redesign of Japanese postwar exhibitions and became president of the Japan Contemporary Crafts Artists Association in 1940. In 1954, he received the prestigious Japan Art Academy Prize, followed by the title of Cultural Merit in 1966. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1970 and the Order of the Rising Sun in 1977. Kakutaro Yamazaki died on March 1, 1984 in Tokyo. His legacy is based on a bold modernization of Japanese lacquerware, in which artistic expression prevails over mere functionality.