Suntory Museum of Art
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Notable Works
Satsuma Cut-glass Bottle with Stopper and Red Overlay

Notable Works

Glass

Satsuma Cut-glass Bottle with Stopper and Red Overlay

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Place of production or style: Satsuma domain, Japan
Number of components: 1
Format and materials: SG ：body 3.53
Dimensions (in cm): D. (base) 8.9, H. (full) 28.4
Date of production: Edo period mid 19th century

Satsuma kiriko is cut glass made in the Satsuma Domain for a brief period in the closing years of the Tokugawa shogunate. The twenty-seventh head of his clan, Shimazu Narioki, began a pharmaceutical business and then embarked on manufacturing glass bottles as containers that would not react with strong medicines. His successor, Nariakira, encouraged glassmaking in his promotion of industry, and Satsuma kiriko advanced to the level of works of art. Colorless transparent glass with a colored overlay was characteristic of Satsuma kiriko; the cuts produce striking color contrasts. Satsuma first succeeded in producing transparent red glass, as in this piece, in 1851.

Notable Works

Satsuma Cut-glass Bottle with Stopper and Red Overlay

SUNTORY MUSEUM of ART