NAMIKAWA YASUYUKI (1845-1927) OF KYOTO A Fine Double-Gourd Cloisonné-Enamel Vase Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th centuryNAMIKAWA YASUYUKI (1845-1927) OF KYOTOA Fine Double-Gourd Cloisonné-Enamel Vase Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th centuryDelicately worked in silver wire on a midnight-black ground with two coiling five-clawed dragons, flames licking around their bodies, between formal floral borders, the neck with similar repeated stylised foliate motifs, applied with a silver rim and foot; signed on a silver tablet Kyoto Namikawa. 23cm (9 1/8in) high.This dragon design, typical of a pattern used by Namikawa Yasuyuki during the peak of his career in the late 1890s, is extremely close to that illustrated in the design book, Kyo Shippo Monyo Shu (A Collection of Designs for Kyoto Enamels), Yoshida Mitsukuni and Nakahara Kenji, eds., Kyoto, 1981, p.182, which states that the 'pair of coiled dragons' pattern was applied to a cloisonn dish made by the artist in 1896.Only a few models of this vase by Namikawa are hitherto known: an almost identical example but with variation in the foliate motifs is illustrated and published in Hida Toyojiro et al., Namikawa Yasuyuki no shippo: Meiji shippo no yuwaku: Tomei na kuro no kansei (Namikawa Yasuyuki and Japanese Cloisonn: The Allure of Meiji Cloisonne: The Aesthetic of Translucent Black), Tokyo, Mainichi Shinbunsha, 2017, no.14; a second was sold at Christie's, New York, 15 April 2016, lot 92; a third with the two dragons facing in other directions was offered in these salerooms, 11 November 2010, lot 315.Born in 1845 to a rural samurai family, Namikawa Yasuyuki started his cloisonn business in Kyoto in 1873 and by the 1880s was successful enough to build, and then extend and upgrade, a large compound that eventually included workshops housing 20 or more employees, a showroom, a family residence and a garden with a fishpond. He used these facilities to create a carefully orchestrated private retail experience that was described in admiring detail by American and European travel writers, selling many of his finest wares directly to private clients, as well as carrying out imperial commissions and participating in international expositions. Between 1876 and 1904 he won 11 overseas awards and in 1896, along with his unrelated namesake the Tokyo enameler Namikawa Sosuke (the two family names are written with different characters), was among the first individuals to be appointed to the ranks of Teishitsu Gigeiin (Artist-Craftsmen to the Imperial Household). Such was his reputation that at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle his wares were snapped up the moment they were unpacked and sold for up to ten times the amount anticipated. For a detailed biography of Namikawa Yasuyuki, see Frederic T. Schneider, The Art of Japanese Cloisonn Enamel: History, Techniques and Artists, 1600 to the Present, Jefferson, N.C., McFarland, 2010, pp.8687.