JOSELITO PREMIUM 2014

by Etsuro Sotoo

Limited edition of 55 exclusive chests containing a Joselito Vintage 2006 Ham

This year's Joselito Premium collection pays tribute to Japan through the vision of one of its most important artistic figures: Etsuro Sotoo. A limited and numbered edition of 55 exclusive personalized chests safeguarding inside an unsurpassed gastronomic jewel: the Joselito Vintage 2006 Ham, with 9 years of curing. A Collection framed within the celebrations of the Spain-Japan Dual 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 fascination and mutual admiration between both 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.He graduated in Fine Arts from Kyoto University and has worked as an art professor in Kyoto and Osaka. Since 1978, he has been working on the construction of the Sagrada Familia Temple in Barcelona as a sculptor. Of the many sculptural works he has created, fifteen are located on the Nativity Façade, begun by Gaudí himself and completed by the Japanese sculptor in 2000. He has received several awards, including the Art of Spirit Award from Lladró (2002), the Cultural Award of Fukuoka Prefecture (2002), the Cultural Award from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2008), and the Michelangelo di Carrara Prize (2012). In September 2012, the Japanese government awarded him in Tokyo for his role in promoting Japanese culture worldwide. In 2014, he received the European Gold Cross from AEFE and the Gaudí Gresol Award for his outstanding personal and professional career.

Handmade in Japan using the ancestral “urushi” technique

Sotoo has recreated for Joselito a spectacular chest, 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 for weeks on each piece, following ancient lacquering techniques with several centuries of tradition.

The samurai is a universal symbol denoting leadership and strength, values we share at Joselito and which Etsuro Sotoo also sought to convey through this noble figure.