IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN: UNRYAN'S INKSTONE CASE WITH DRAGONFLIES AT THE AGNSW - TAASA Review September 2018

IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN: UNRYAN’S INKSTONE CASE WITH DRAGONFLIES AT THE AGNSW – TAASA Review September 2018

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This article was originally found in the September 2018 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 27, Issue 3, Page 21).

The full article is available for free to TAASA Members.

Melanie Eastburn K itamura Tatsuo, known as Unryan, is a modern expert in the art of lacquerware, a technique archaeological evidence suggests has been used in Japan for over 7000 years.

Born in 1952, he grew up in the Japan’s Wajima region which is renowned for its lacquer expertise. Inkstone case (suzuribako) with dragonfly design, 2008, Unryan (Kitamura Tatsuo) b1952, Japan, wood, black and red lacquer, gold and mother-of-pearl inlay, 18 x 10 x 3.5 cm.

Purchased with donated funds, Art Gallery of NSW Unryan is particularly inspired by the lacquer objects produced during Japan’s Edo period (1615ï¿½1868) and works in the tradition of the Koami family who produced lacquer for the Tokugawa, Japan’s rulers in this period...