Large bowl with foliated rim decorated with cacti pattern
1995
Iro-e porcelain with gold and silver overglazes
3 5/8 x 11 x 11 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Box title: 色絵金銀彩輪花鉢 (Iroe kinginsai rinka bachi); Iroe (overglazed-enameled) Foliated Bowl with Gold and Silver Overglazes (front box cover)
Box signature: 前田正博作 (Maeda Masahiro saku); Made by Maeda Masahiro (back of box cover)
Box seal: ま (Ma) (back of box cover)
For similar work, see:
Aka, Kuro, Kin, Gin, Midori, Ao – in Praise of Colors Maeda Masahiro Exhibition. Tokyo: Musée Tomo, 2009, pl.4
4th Museum -Nihon no gendai tōgei: dentō kara atarashii zōkei e [Japanese Contemporary Ceramic: from Traditions to New Formative Designs]. Kasuga: 4th Museum River Retreat Garaku, 2000, p. 52.
Large tiered conical vessel in black and teal with silver linear patterning
2022
Iro-e porcelain with silver overglaze
9 7/8 x 11 3/8 x 11 3/8 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Long oblong platter with foliated raised rim decorated with anthurium and striped designs
1992
Iro-e porcelain with gold and silver overglazes
2 x 19 7/8 x 10 1/4 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Box title: 色絵金銀彩長皿 (Iroe kinginsai nagazara); Iroe (overglazed-enameled) Long Platter with Gold and Silver Overglazes (front box cover)
Box signature: 前田正博作 (Maeda Masahiro saku); Made by Maeda Masahiro (back of box cover)
Box seal: ま (Ma) (back of box cover)
For similar style, see:
MASAHIRO MAEDA, Nihonbashi Tokyo: Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, 1992, pp. 16-17.
“Japanese blue” (aiji) teabowl with triangular patterning
1980
Iro-e porcelain with gold overglaze
3 x 5 3/8 x 5 3/8 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Hexagonal faceted bowl with lozenges decorated with palm trees on silver and striped grounds
2004
Iro-e porcelain with gold and silver overglazes
2 5/8 x 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Large red bowl with mountains and crescent moons motifs
2000
Iro-e porcelain with gold and silver overglazes
5 1/8 x 15 x 15 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Box title: 色絵金銀彩輪花鉢 (Iroe kinginsai rinka bachi); Iroe (overglazed-enameled) Foliated Bowl with Gold and Silver Overglazes (front box cover)
Box signature: 前田正博作 (Maeda Masahiro saku); Made by Maeda Masahiro (back of box cover)
Box seal: ま (Ma) (back of box cover)
Published:
“History of Polychrome Porcelain.” Honoho Geijutsu 44 (1995): p.15.
For similar style, see:
Aka, Kuro, Kin, Gin, Midori, Ao – in Praise of Colors Maeda Masahiro Exhibition. Tokyo: Musée Tomo, 2009, pl. 40.
Covered container with alternating squares of connected triangular patterning
1990
Iro-e porcelain with gold and silver overglazes, lacquer lid
6 x 5 1/8 x 5 1/8 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Box title: 色絵金銀彩蓋物 (Iroe kinginsai futamono); Iroe (overglazed-enameled) Covered Container with Gold and Silver Overglazes (front box cover)
Box signature: 前田正博作 (Maeda Masahiro saku); Made by Maeda Masahiro (back of box cover)
Box seal: ま (Ma) (back of box cover)
For similar style, see:
Aka, Kuro, Kin, Gin, Midori, Ao – in Praise of Colors Maeda Masahiro Exhibition. Tokyo: Musée Tomo, 2009, pl. 49.
Covered bulbous jar decorated with pine trees and half moons and blue-glazed interior
2007
Iro-e porcelain with gold and silver overglazes
9 1/4 x 7 3/8 x 7 3/8 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Box title: 色絵金銀彩蓋付壺 (Iroe kinginsai futatsuki tsubo); Iroe (overglazed-enameled) Covered Vessel with Gold and Silver Overglazes (front box cover)
Box signature: 前田正博作 (Maeda Masahiro saku); Made by Maeda Masahiro (back of box cover)
Covered six-sided container with geometric and half moon patterning
2006
Iro-e porcelain with gold and silver overglazes
11 5/8 x 7 x 7 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Box title: 色絵金銀彩面取蓋物 (Iroe kinginsai mentori futamono); Iroe (overglazed-enameled) Faceted Covered Container with Gold and Silver Overglazes
Box signature: 前田正博作 (Maeda Masahiro saku); Made by Maeda Masahiro (back of box cover)
Box seal: ま (Ma) (back of box cover)
Exhibited:
Exhibition of Maeda Masahiro, Asahi Beer Ōyamazaki Villa Museum, Kyoto, 2007
Published:
Maeda Masahiro. Kyoto: Asahi Beer Ōyamazaki Villa Museum, 2007, p. 3.
Broad-shouldered tiered waterjar in teal, black, and purple with bands of linear patterning and blue interior
2021
Iro-e porcelain with silver overglaze
5 3/8 x 7 3/8 x 7 3/8 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
Tiered and banded covered bottle in teal, orange, and black with silver linear patterning
2022
Iro-e porcelain with silver overglaze
9 1/8 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.
Potter’s mark: ま (Ma) painted on bottom
RETROSPECTIVE OF AN IRO-E MASTER November 2 – December 15, 2023
Avidly collected in Japan for decades, this artist-curated exhibition at Joan B Mirviss LTD marks Maeda Masahiro’s first retrospective show outside of Japan. Playing with Pattern brings together major works from each stage of his career. Though his style has undergone transformations over the years, Maeda’s artistry is rooted in a unique layering of decorations, often utilizing a remarkable range of colors and motifs that are accentuated in gold and silver. Working steadily for over fifty years, Maeda is renowned for his skills in iro-e, an overglaze enamel technique that traces its roots to the vibrant Japanese polychrome porcelain ware of the seventeenth century. By combining his technical expertise with exuberant patterning, Maeda Masahiro is a modern master committed to enlivening tradition while occasionally imbuing it with wry humor.
To learn more and view the online catalog, click here.
UPCOMING ZOOM GALLERY TALK
Taking Space, Making Space: Japanese Women Ceramic Artists
Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 5pm ET
Coinciding with Radical Clay: Contemporary Japanese Women Artists, which opens at the Art Institute of Chicago just a few days later, our next ZOOM Gallery Talk will explore the vital role of 20th and 21st century Japanese women clay artists within Japanese ceramics today. Drawn from the Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection and featuring work by 20 of our gallery artists, the museum exhibition celebrates the achievements and profound influence of these creative visionaries on a traditionally male-dominated ceramics field. Panelists for this event include key figures who contributed to this important exhibition, including: collector and museum patron Carol Horvitz, curator and Radical Clay catalogue contributor Hollis Goodall, and two prominent gallery artists featured in the exhibition, Tashima Etsuko and Tomita Mikiko, who represent different generational perspectives.
PANELISTS:
HOLLIS GOODALL, Former Curator of Japanese Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), CA
CAROL HORVITZ, Japanese art collector and museum patron, MA
TASHIMA ETSUKO, Gallery artist and Professor of Ceramics at Osaka University of the Arts, Japan
TOMITA MIKIKO, Gallery artist
Moderated by JOAN MIRVISS
