Page 238 - Fine Japanese Art Bonhams London May 2018

(interior)

457
TWO INLAID IRON CIGARETTE CASES
By the Komai Company of Kyoto, Meiji era (1868-1912),
late 19th/early 20th century
The first, converted into a cosmetic case, worked in typical
gold and silver overlay with snow-laden bamboo leaves
on one side and Mount Fuji on the reverse, all reserved
on a plain matt black damascened ground, the inside
457 inset with two engraved compartments and a mirror, the
outside of the hinged cover attached with a gold chain
and decorated with a gold monogram with the initials
AHW, the same initials inscribed in katakana script to its
left, signed on the interior with gold seal Nihonkoku Kyoto
no ju Komai sei beneath a dragonfly, 9.5cm x 7.3cm (3¾in
x 2 5/8in); the second worked in typical gold overlay with
a peacock perched on a gnarled branch of pine draped
diagonally across the cover, the interior plain and inscribed
with the initials and date M.B. 1930, the reverse inlaid with
three chidori (plovers or dotterels) on a plain matt black
damascened ground, signed with a seal Nihonkoku Kyoto
no ju Komai sei beneath a dragonfly, 8cm x 12.2cm
(3 1/8in x 4¾in), with a wooden storage box. (3).
£1,500 - 1,800
JPY230,000 - 270,000
US$2,100 - 2,500
457 458
AN INLAID-IRON RECTANGULAR BOX AND COVER
By the Komai Company of Kyoto, Meiji era (1868-1912),
late 19th/early 20th century
Finely worked throughout in the typical Komai style of
silver and gold overlay, the cover with a plain matt black
damascened panel enclosing a rural scene showing a
solitary peasant on the shores of a lake beside thatched
huts, a sailing boat on the calm water and the snow-
capped peak of Mount Fuji rising in the distance, the sides
similarly inlaid with rectangular panels enclosing trees of
different seasons, two with birds amidst the branches, all
bordered by a ground of fragmented rinzu (textile-weave),
raised on four bracket feet inlaid with fruiting vine; signed
on the base with a seal Nihonkoku Kyoto no ju Komai sei
beneath a dragonfly. 4.5cm x 10.8cm x 7.6cm
(1¾in x 4¼in x 3in).
458 £1,500 - 2,500
JPY230,000 - 380,000
US$2,100 - 3,500

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
236 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.