Imperial Household Artist

An Imperial Household Artist (帝室技芸員, Teishitsu Gigei-in) was an artist who was officially appointed by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan to create works of art for the Tokyo Imperial Palace and other imperial residences.

The Japanese Imperial crest on a cloisonné presentation vase by Namikawa Sōsuke

History

The system came into being during the Meiji period in 1890 and was discontinued after the end of World War II.[1] From 1890 to 1944, seventy-nine individuals were appointed to the position, from both the fine and decorative arts.[2] These tended to be artists who had already had a long and distinguished career.[1] The programme was created to promote Japanese art, inspire new generations of artists, and preserve old techniques.[1]

Imperial Household Artists received 100 yen each year. They were expected to submit one example of their work on being appointed and to accept commissions from the Imperial Household Agency. Some of the works commissioned were for presentation to foreign dignitaries.[1] Many presentation wares were commissioned and then put into storage, to be gifted when the need came.[1] Often these wares would bear the Imperial crest, a sixteen-petalled chrysanthemum.[1]

In 1912, all twenty-four of the current artists were commissioned to create gifts for the Meiji Emperor to celebrate his 61st birthday. The Emperor died before the presentation could take place, so the items were placed in the Imperial Household Museum, which later became the Tokyo National Museum.[1][3]

Most pieces of work cannot be seen in public except for some in the Museum of the Imperial Collections, as well as pieces in the Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum (ja), the Tokyo National Museum and the Khalili Collection of Japanese Art.

Important artists are still designated and protected by the government under the system of Living National Treasures.

List of artists
Full name Specialty Appointment date Death date
Tazaki Sōun painting 2 October 1890[4] 1 September 1898
Mori Kansai painting 2 October 1890[4] 2 June 1894
Shibata Zeshin lacquerware 2 October 1890[4] 13 July 1891
Kanō Eitoku painting 2 October 1890[4] 29 January 1891
Morizumi Tsurana painting 2 October 1890[4] 26 February 1892
Date Yasuke textile art 2 October 1890[4] 20 March 1892
Kano Natsuo engraving 2 October 1890[4] 3 February 1898
Hashimoto Gahō painting 2 October 1890[4] 13 January 1908
Takamura Kōun sculpture 2 October 1890[4] 10 October 1934
Ishikawa Komei sculpture 2 October 1890[4] 30 July 1913
Noguchi Yukoku painting 25 September 1893[5] 26 June 1898
Taki Katei painting 25 September 1893[5] 28 September 1901
Kōno Bairei painting 25 September 1893[5] 2 February 1895
Seifu Yohei III ceramics 25 September 1893[5][6] 15 July 1914
Kishi Chikudō painting 30 June 1896[7] 27 July 1900
Yamana Nukiyoshi painting 30 June 1896[7] 11 June 1902
Kawabata Gyokushō painting 30 June 1896[7] 14 February 1913
Ito Heizaemon architecture 30 June 1896[7] 11 May 1913
Unno Shomin gold carving 30 June 1896[7] 8 October 1915
Miyagawa Kozan ceramics 30 June 1896[7] 24 May 1916
Namikawa Sōsuke cloisonné 30 June 1896[7] 14 February 1910
Namikawa Yasuyuki cloisonné 30 June 1896[7] 14 February 1927
Suzuki Chokichi metalwork 30 June 1896[7] 29 January 1919
Kawanobe Itcho maki-e 30 June 1896[7] 5 September 1910
Tadashi Ikeda maki-e 30 June 1896[7] 7 March 1903
Kawashima Jinbei textile art 9 February 1898[8] 5 May 1910
Araki Kanpo painting 21 July 1900[9] 21 July 1915
Naohiko Kumagai painting 16 April 1904[10] 8 March 1913
Mochizuki Gyokusen painting 16 April 1904[10] 16 September 1913
Imao Keinen painting 16 April 1904[10] 5 October 1924
Noguchi Shōhin painting 16 April 1904[10] 17 February 1917
Takeuchi Kyūichi sculpture 4 April 1906[11] 24 September 1916
Shirayama Shosai lacquerware 4 April 1906[11] 7 August 1923
Kagawa Katsuhiro gold carving 4 April 1906[11] 15 January 1917
Miyamoto Kanenori bladesmithing 4 April 1906[11] 22 October 1926
Nakai Keisho carving 4 April 1906[11] 30 September 1909
Gassan Sadakazu bladesmithing 4 April 1906[11] 11 July 1918
Kishi Kokei design 4 April 1906[11] 3 May 1922
Kuroda Seiki yōga (Western-style painting) 18 October 1910 16 July 1924
Ogawa Kazumasa photography 18 October 1910 7 September 1929
Takeuchi Seihō painting 18 December 1913[12] 23 August 1942
Tsukada Shukyo engraving 18 December 1913[12] 29 December 1918
Kōgyō Terasaki painting 17 June 1917[13] 11 February 1919
Tomoto Kobori painting 17 June 1917[13] 1 October 1931
Kawai Gyokudō painting 17 June 1917[13] 30 June 1958
Kanzan Shimomura painting 17 June 1917[13] 10 May 1930
Tomioka Tessai painting 17 June 1917[13] 3 December 1923
Yamamoto Shunkyo painting 17 June 1917[13] 11 July 1933
Taketarō Shinkai sculpture 17 June 1917[13] 12 March 1927
Ito Suzan ceramics 17 June 1917[13] 24 September 1920
Suwa Sozan ceramics 17 June 1917[13] 9 February 1922
Muneyuki Hirata metalwork 17 June 1917[13] 25 February 1920
Sasaki Iwajiro architecture 17 June 1917[13] 10 October 1936
Yokoyama Taikan nihonga (Japanese-style painting) 30 June 1931[14] 26 January 1958
Akatsuka Jitoku lacquerware 1930[1] 1936
Hashimoto Kansetsu nihonga 3 December 1934[15] 26 February 1945
Yasuda Yukihiko nihonga 3 December 1934[15] 29 April 1978
Keigetsu Kikuchi nihonga 3 December 1934[15] 9 September 1955
Eisaku Wada yōga 3 December 1934[15] 3 January 1959
Fujishima Takeji yōga 3 December 1934[15] 19 March 1943
Okada Saburōsuke yōga 3 December 1934[15] 23 September 1939
Choun Yamazaki sculpture 3 December 1934[15] 4 June 1954
Hazan Itaya crafts 3 December 1934[15] 10 October 1963
Hozuma Katori crafts 3 December 1934[15] 31 January 1954
Nanzan Shimizu crafts 3 December 1934[15] 7 December 1948
Nishiyama Suisho nihonga 1 July 1944[16] 30 March 1958
Inshō Dōmoto nihonga 1 July 1944[16] 5 September 1975
Kiyokata Kaburagi nihonga 1 July 1944[16] 2 March 1972
Uemura Shōen nihonga 1 July 1944[16] 27 August 1949
Seison Maeda nihonga 1 July 1944[16] 27 October 1977
Matsubayashi Keigetsu nihonga 1 July 1944[16] 22 May 1963
Kokei Kobayashi nihonga 1 July 1944[16] 3 April 1957
Komuro Suiun nihonga 1 July 1944[16] 30 March 1945
Kanayama Heizō yōga 1 July 1944[16] 15 July 1964
Hiromitsu Nakazawa yōga 1 July 1944[16] 8 September 1964
Ryūzaburō Umehara yōga 1 July 1944[16] 16 January 1986
Sōtarō Yasui yōga 1 July 1944[16] 14 December 1955
Minami Kunzō yōga 1 July 1944[16] 6 January 1950
Fumio Asakura sculpture 1 July 1944[16] 18 April 1964
Hirakushi Denchū sculpture 1 July 1944[16] 30 December 1979

    References
    1. Earle 1999, pp. 348–349.
    2. "Artists to the Imperial Household". www.tnm.jp. Tokyo National Museum. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
    3. "140th Anniversary Thematic Exhibitions: Donated Works from Imperial Household Artists in the First Year of the Taisho Era (1912)". www.tnm.jp. Tokyo National Museum. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
    4. "Gazette" No. 2191, October 16, 1897.
    5. "Gazette" No. 3076, September 28, 1868.
    6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-02-05. Retrieved 2016-09-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    7. "Gazette" No. 3901, July 1, 1897.
    8. "Gazette" No. 4380, February 10, 1891.
    9. "Gazette" No. 5116, July 23, 1868.
    10. "Gazette" No. 6236, April 18, 1897.
    11. "Official Gazette" No. 6826, 5 April 1906.
    12. "Gazette" No. 419, December 19, 1912.
    13. "Gazette" No. 1458, June 12, 1912.
    14. Gazette," No. 1351, July 2, 1988.
    15. "Gazette" No. 2378, December 4, 1934.
    16. “Gazette” No. 5239, July 3, 1947.

    Sources
    • Earle, Joe (1999). Splendors of Meiji : treasures of imperial Japan : masterpieces from the Khalili Collection. St. Petersburg, Fla.: Broughton International Inc. ISBN 1874780137. OCLC 42476594.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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