Page 55 - Fine Japanese Art Bonhams London May 2018

130
A RARE BLACK-LACQUER SINGLE-CASE INRO
WITH INTERIOR TRAY
By Okumura, Edo period (1615-1868), late 17th/early 18th century
Of wide form, bearing a dense roiro ground, lacquered and inlaid with
a continuous design of kogai (metal hairpins) decorated with various
subjects in gold takamaki-e with details of inlaid shell, one inscribed
Goto Yu (jo), the interior of black lacquer with kinji edges and the riser
with a geometrical design in chinkinbori, signed Okumura with a kao;
with a stag antler Asakusa-school ojime of a stylised shishi, unsigned.
8cm (3 1/8in) wide.
£2,000 - 3,000
JPY300,000 - 450,000
US$2,800 - 4,200
Provenance
Michael and Hiroko Dean collection, purchased from Barry Davies
Oriental Art, London, 2002.
Edward Wrangham collection, no.2192.

Published
Michael and Hiroko Dean, Japanese Lacquer, An Exposition, Kyoto,
1984, no.101.
E. A. Wrangham, The Index of Inro Artists, Harehope, Northumberland, 130
1995, p.205, Okumura.
Barry Davies Oriental Art, Japanese Lacquer: Nanbokucho to Zeshin,
London, 2002, no.88.

It has been suggested that the inro is by Okumura Shirobei Yoshiyuki,
a member of the Okumura family of lacquerers working in the Genroku
era (1688-1704). The design is of a Muromachi-period (1333-1573)
kogai by Yujo (1435-1490), one of the earliest members of the Goto
family of sword-fitting makers, from whom there are no known signed
works but many attested by later members of the school.
131
A BLACK-LACQUER FIVE-CASE INRO
By Koma Bunsai, Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century
Of upright form, bearing a rich roiro ground, lacquered with scattered
maru-ni-onigashiwa mon of the Makino family of Tanabe among
scattered formal flowerheads, in gold takamaki-e and zogan-nuri, the
interior of nashiji with kinji edges, signed in a red gourd-shaped reserve
Bunsai; with a gilt metal and enamel filigree ojime, unsigned.
9.5cm (3¾in) high.
£15,000 - 20,000
JPY2,300,000 - 3,000,000
US$21,000 - 28,000
Provenance
Edward Gilbertson collection.
R. A. Pfungst collection.
Demaree and Dorothy Bess collection.
Charles A. Greenfield collection, no.205.
Purchased from Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1990.
Edward Wrangham collection, no.2001.

Published
Harold P. Stern, The Magnificent Three, Lacquer, Netsuke and Tsuba,
Japan Society, New York, 1972, inro no.30.
A. J. Pekarick, Japanese Lacquer, 1600-1900, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, 1980, no.45.
E. A. Wrangham, The Index of Inro Artists, Harehope, Northumberland,
1995, p.32, Bunsai, Koma, right.

Exhibited
The Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1894, case XIII, no.31A.
Japan Society Gallery, New York, 1972. 131
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1980.

The technique used on the smaller mon is zogan-nuri, which simulates
cloisonné enamel by applying fine gold or silver wire.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. FINE JAPANESE ART | 53