This December 2012 issue (No. 533) of Chiisana Tsubomi (小さな蕾) comes from the long-running Japanese magazine devoted to antique art, ceramics, traditional crafts, museum collections, and connoisseurship. Beautifully illustrated throughout, it makes an excellent reference for collectors of Japanese and East Asian art.
The principal feature, 「麗しの大阪周遊 —旦那衆の美学」, takes readers on an art-focused journey through Osaka and its surrounding cultural collections, exploring the refined aesthetic world associated with the region’s wealthy merchants and connoisseurs.
Featured institutions include the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (大阪市立東洋陶磁美術館), renowned for its important collection of East Asian ceramics, as well as Namban Culture Museum (南蛮文化館) and the Kubosō Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi (和泉市久保惣記念美術館). Together, the articles provide a fascinating introduction to ceramics and other works preserved in some of the Kansai region’s notable collections.
The issue also continues the series 「土偶 DOGU に迫る III」, connected with the MIHO MUSEUM exhibition 「土偶・コスモス」, examining the mysterious clay figurines of prehistoric Jōmon Japan.
Another feature, 「五島美術館、再開！2」, continues coverage of the reopened Gotoh Museum, this time focusing on Kamakura and Muromachi-period art.
Size: 13 x 18cm
144 pages
