Antique Japanese Cast Iron Ikebana Suiban Vase. Signed. 

Size: 7 x 7 x 4 in. 

#7159 . 

Ikebana (translated as “making flowers alive”) is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting evergreen trees inside the home and decorating them with flowers to invite the gods to visit. Ikebana is counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement, along with kōdō for incense appreciation and chadō for tea and the tea ceremony. The pastime of viewing plants and appreciating flowers throughout the four seasons was established in Japan early on through the aristocracy. Waka poetry anthologies such as the Man’yōshū and Kokin Wakashū from the Heian period (794-1185) included many poems on the topic of flowers. With the introduction of Buddhism, offering flowers at Buddhist altars became common. Although the lotus is widely used in India where Buddhism originated, in Japan other native flowers for each season were selected for this purpose. The first known flower arrangements that were composed using a system were called shin-no-hana, meaning “central flower arrangement.” A huge branch of pine or cryptomeria stood in the middle, with three or five seasonable flowers placed around it. These branches and stems were put in vases in upright positions without attempting artificial curves. Generally symmetrical in form, these arrangements appeared in religious images in the 14th Century, as the first attempt to represent natural scenery artificially. With the development of the shoin-zukuri architectural style starting in the Muromachi period (1336-1573), kakemono (scroll pictures) and containers could be suitably displayed as art objects in the oshiita, a precursor to the tokonoma alcove, and the chigaidana, two-leveled shelves. Flower arrangements became crucial to this style of decoration, called zashiki kazari, with the setting of three ceremonial objects at the Buddhist altar called mitsugusoku, consisting of lit candles in holders, a censer, and flowers in a vase. The art of flower blossomed into many schools at the end of the 15th Century following a period of civil war. The eighth shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-1490), was a patron of the arts and the greatest promoter of the tea ceremony and flower arrangement. In fact, Yoshimasa eventually abdicated his position to devote his time entirely to the arts, and developed concepts that would then go on to contribute to the formulation of rules in ikebana. Artists of the Kanō and Shugetsu schools of the 16th Century were lovers of nature, and ikebana advanced significantly thanks to their depictions of it. During the early Edo period many books about ikebana were published, and were some of the earliest translated into Western languages as interest in Japan and the East bloomed. The most popular ikebana schools of today, including Ikenobō, Enshū-ryū, and Mishō-ryū combine techniques from throughout history, and are still an important part of everyday life for all walks of life in Japan.