Page 15 - Bonhams The Zuiun Collection NYC March 2017

5020 (box) 5020 (silk bag) 5020

5020 THE ZUIUN COLLECTION | 13
A SANDALWOOD SCEPTER
China, Qing dynasty (1644–1912), 18th century
A scepter carved from well-patinated sandalwood as a piece of
lingzhi fungus, with one small stem rising against a larger, more boldly
carved stem
With a Japanese double wooden tomobako storage box, the exterior
of the outer lid inscribed Tennenboku nyoi 天然木如意 (Natural wood
scepter); Kono nyoi waga tomo Chikken rōjin iai ima Seihakuken
ni oite kore o mata mite atakamo kyūyū ni au no gotoshi chinamite
kono sotobako o shikisu Sakaifu ni oite Shūken dai 此如意吾友竹
軒老人遺愛今茲復観テ清白軒中宛如会旧友囙識シ是外匣 於堺
府 習軒題 (This scepter was once a treasured possession of my
deceased friend [Yokoe] Chikken. Seeing it at again at Seihakuken
was like meeting an old friend, so I wrote this inscription on the
outer box; inscribed by Shūken in Sakai), with a seal; the reverse
of the lid with a paper seal Seihakuken zō 清白軒蔵 (Seihakuken
Collection); the exterior of the inner box inscribed Tennenboku nyoi
天然木如意 (Natural wood scepter); Manji’an nansō no shita ni oite
Shūken gakujin kan narabi ni dai 於卍字盦南窗下 習軒学人観並題
(Examined and inscribed by the scholar Shūken under the southern
window of Manji’an); Chinese padded silk storage bag painted in ink
and colors with an auspicious bat, signed and sealed
14 3/4in (37.5cm) long

US$8,000 - 10,000

Sakata Shūken 坂田習軒 (also known as Keizō 圭蔵, 1869–1928), a
prominent leader of the Kagetsuan School of sencha, is best known
today for his treatise Sencha seiganki: Kagetsuan-ryū hōshiki zufu 煎
茶清玩規 : 華月庵流法式圖譜(Illustrated Book of Rules for the Pure
Enjoyment of Sencha According to the Methods of the Kagetsuan
School), see Patricia J. Graham, Tea of the Sages: The Art of
Sencha, Honolulu, University of Hawai’i Press, 1998, pp. 186–187
and Shufunotomosha 主婦の友社, Gendai senchadō jiten 現代戦茶
道事典 (An Encyclopedia of Modern Sencha), Tokyo, 1981, p. 434;
Manji’an was the name of Shūken’s studio. Yokoe Shikken 横江竹軒
was born in Kyoto to a branch family of the Mitsui industrial empire. A
famous connoisseur, his art collection was sold in part at an auction
held by the Osaka Art Club 大阪美術倶楽部 in September 1935.