Vase

This twentieth-century vase was made in the Ando Studio in Nagoya, Japan. The bright, colourful flowers covering it were made using a technique called cloisonné. To create the decoration, a skilled and patient artisan would have formed an outline of the flower pattern on the metal vase using ribbon shaped wires. Each segment would then have been filled with coloured enamels. Heating the vase at an intense heat would have melted the enamel, settling the colours into their wire enclosures. The colouring and baking would have been repeated three times to obtain the perfect look. Once the desired colours were achieved in an enamel of even thickness, the craftsman would have ground, smoothed, and polished the surface to create the finished work.

The technique is intricate and complex and the work would have been shared by several craftspeople.

Cloisonné | Shippo
In Japan, where this vase was made, cloisonné is known as 'shippo'. This is an allusion to the Seven Heavenly Treasures of gold, silver, emerald, agate, coral, crystal, and pearl, that are said to be expressed in the beauty of shippo enamels. This vase is an excellent example of one of seven types of cloisonné produced at the Ando Studio, and is known as 'yusen shippo' (meaning enamel with wiring).

Sir Walter Nash
Sir Walter Nash (1882-1968) gave this vase to the Dominion Museum around 1960. Nash was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1957 to 1960.