Tetsuya Ueda Porcelain Box – Camellia in Cobalt Blue

This Japanese porcelain box was created by the ceramist Tetsuya Ueda, in a very contemporary style while remaining very Japanese in spirit. Square in shape with softened corners, this generously sized piece (17 cm on each side and 7 cm high) was made from soft white porcelain. It is decorated with delicately hand-painted camellias using the sometsuke technique – an ancestral process consisting of applying cobalt oxide to the raw earth before firing, to obtain a deep blue underglaze decoration, a technique for which Ueda san is renowned. On certain parts, such as the leaf stems, the pattern has been discreetly highlighted, adding a tactile dimension to the surface.

The quintessential winter flower, the camellia (tsubaki) is, in Japanese culture, associated with quiet strength, restrained elegance, and perseverance. Its representation here, understated and highly refined, reinforces the sense of peace and harmony that emanates from the whole.

Tetsuya Ueda (born in 1959) is a Japanese ceramist based in the Kyoto region. After graduating from the Ceramics Department of the Kyoto Municipal University of the Arts in 1981, he continued his research in the field of white porcelain and sometsuke, which he reinterprets with great finesse. He favors sober, balanced forms, on which are inscribed freehand-painted plant motifs, in a limited and controlled palette. His pieces, highly appreciated in Japan, have been exhibited in several specialized galleries and have won numerous awards at national fairs. He is today considered one of the most sensitive contemporary ceramists in the art of cobalt blue decoration.

This heavy box, which dates from the Heisei Era (1989-2019), is signed on its base and is accompanied by its wooden protective box (kiribako) signed by the artisan (seal, name of the artisan in kanji and name of the work) tied with a sanadahimo cord, as well as its protective cloth (tomonuno), also marked with the artist's seal. It is in perfect condition, except for a few small, inconsequential stains on its base.