About Gyokusendo of Japan
Gyokusendo of Japan is a company which was started in 1814 and has been in business since that date. They specialize in hand hammered objects, which are formed and brought to life from a single sheet of hand beaten metal. They are even able to form traditional Japanese teapots, including the spout, using only a single sheet of copper to begin with.
Their workmen today are trained at the company utilizing the traditional apprentice system, and often workmen today are descendants of previous workmen and come from a long family tradition. They make their own tools, and utilize some 200 different hammers and some 300 different shapes of ”toriguchi”, the anvils the metal is beaten against. To form just one kettle a workman can use from twenty to thirty toriguchi alone. The workmen utilize a sitting position to work, on a work stool called an “agari ban”, which is a slice from a zelkova log. They cushion the piece being worked on between their feet, and it may take up to a week making one item from a single sheet of copper or silver.
We discovered Gyokusendo quite by accident, with a small drip vase we purchased at a U.S. auction, and rapidly learned that their items are seldom found within the USA. Information on the internet about them is also very thin, and members of the company do not speak English as we quickly learned, nor do they export their current output to the USA. We also learned from their English speaking current Japanese disribution outlet that there is no documentation available to determine the age of earlier pieces, save perchance that a workman there today would recognize a piece as his own, and provide the owner with an idea as to when he produced that particular item and/or style.
A great deal of their output has always been the various containers and implements used within their traditional tea ceremonies. However we felt that the items most likely to fit within the American home and lifestyle, for either the display of the form or for its actual use, are their hammered vases. We have now been been successful in arranging a relationship with an agent in Japan, who works with us in acquiring nice examples of their work. What you see listed here has been obtained in that way, located and purchased in Japan and air shipped to us here.
When one looks at the quality of the Gyokusendo handwork, and the secret patina formulas they use, it was of no surprise that Japan has designated the company and its workmen as an intangible cultural heritage of the country. We hope that you will enjoy these pieces of art as much as we do. With the Japanese love for design, and for individual artisan work, each dimple on a piece is formed by a hammer blow with a specific outcome in mind.
