Bidspirit auction | ŌTAGAKI RENGETSU (1791-1875) Ceramic wall

ŌTAGAKI RENGETSU (1791-1875) Ceramic wall vase 20 cm high Provenance: Italian private collection. This type of flower vase ( hanaire ) is usually placed in the tokonoma , that aedicule which in traditional Japanese houses is dedicated to the display of particularly admired objects and works of art. The incised poem can be translated as follows: “I swept away the dust of the world I have what I need for the rest of my days the sound of the wind amidst pines” The author is Ōtagaki Rengetsu herself who also modeled the vase. She was therefore a poet, a ceramist and a calligrapher, one of the most popular Japanese artists of all time. After some unfortunate events, at the age of thirty-three she decided to become a Buddhist nun, simultaneously dedicating herself to the arts she preferred.