c. 1952

Vase with Design of Grasses

Japanese, 1890 - 1972

Takamura Toyochika's emphasis here is on a pure form that complements the tactile beauty of the bronze. Subtle gradations of the patina in shades of red and brown, called murashidö, are accentuated by gently swaying blades of grass in low relief. Cast in the lost-wax method, the vessel exemplifies Takamura's best work of the postwar period, when he sought to fulfill the dictates of "form and function" with simplicity and beauty.