Joselito Premium 2014
by Etsuro Sotoo
Limited edition of 55 exclusive chests containing a Joselito 2006 Vintage Ham
This year’s Joselito Premium collection pays tribute to Japan through the eyes of one of its most important artistic figures: Etsuro Sotoo. A limited and numbered edition of 55 exclusive personalised boxes that protect inside them an unbeatable gastronomic jewel such as the Joselito Vintage 2006 ham, aged for 9 years.
A Collection that is part of the celebrations of the Dual Spain-Japan Year, which commemorates 400 years of exchange relations between the two countries.
Etsuro Sotoo, current chief sculptor of the Sagrada Familia, has been chosen by Joselito as a symbol of the mutual fascination and admiration between the two countries, expressed through art and woven over more than four centuries.
Born in Fukuoka in 1953, he has been chosen by Joselito as a symbol of this connection and mutual fascination, expressed through art.
Graduated in Fine Arts from Kyoto University, he has worked as an art teacher in Kyoto and Osaka. Since 1978 he has been working as a sculptor on the construction of the Temple of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Of the many sculptural works he has created, fifteen of them are to be found in the Nativity Façade, begun by Gaudí himself and completed by the Japanese sculptor in the year 2000. He has received several awards, including: the Art of Spirit Award of Lladró (2002), the Cultural Award of Fukuoka Province (2002) and the Cultural Award of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2008) and the Michelangelo di Carrara Award (2012). In September 2012, the Japanese government presented him with an award in Tokyo for his work as a promoter of Japanese culture around the world. In 2014, he received the AEFE European Gold Cross and the Gaudí Gresol Award for his brilliant personal and professional career.
Graduated in Fine Arts from Kyoto University, he has worked as an art teacher in Kyoto and Osaka. Since 1978 he has been working as a sculptor on the construction of the Temple of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Of the many sculptural works he has created, fifteen of them are to be found in the Nativity Façade, begun by Gaudí himself and completed by the Japanese sculptor in the year 2000. He has received several awards, including: the Art of Spirit Award of Lladró (2002), the Cultural Award of Fukuoka Province (2002) and the Cultural Award of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2008) and the Michelangelo di Carrara Award (2012). In September 2012, the Japanese government presented him with an award in Tokyo for his work as a promoter of Japanese culture around the world. In 2014, he received the AEFE European Gold Cross and the Gaudí Gresol Award for his brilliant personal and professional career.
Sotoo has reproduced a spectacular chest for Joselito, individually handmade in Japan, using the ancestral “urushi” technique: an ancient Japanese method of engraving and printing on lacquered wood. A team of expert Japanese craftsmen worked on each piece for weeks following ancient traditional lacquering techniques.
The samurai is a universal symbol that denotes leadership and strength, values that we share at Joselito and that Etsuro Sotoo also wanted to transmit through this noble figure.
Ekomi
