Page 13 - Bonhams September 12 2018 New York Japanese Works of Art

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KOMAI OTOJIRŌ 駒井音次郎 (1842–1917) were in international demand and by 1881
An Iron and Gold Miniature Cabinet he was wealthy enough to buy a mansion
山水花鳥図布目象嵌鉄小箪笥 in Kyoto. Following a difficult trading period
Meiji era (1868–1912), circa 1895–1905 during which he was forced to work as
Mounted on six bracket feet, of bombé form Ikeda’s employee, in 1894 Komai set up a
and fitted with two hinged doors, closed by a business catering to wealthy European and
silver clasp and pin, that open to reveal four American travelers and began to promote
drawers of different sizes, three with plain his wares at international expositions under
silver handles and the lowest with a foliate his own name. He retired in 1906 and was
silver handle, the top of the cabinet with two succeded by his son Komai Seibei (1883–
scrolls to right and left, the entire surface 1970)
inside and out minutely decorated in gold
overlay on iron, variously depicting rustic Perhaps taking his inspiration from the
landscapes with waterside buildings and popularity of small-scale cabinets and
bird-and-flower scenes, all within borders of boxes made from lacquered wood, admired
elaborate geometric and floral ornament, the by European royalty since the eighteenth
interiors of the drawers plain gilt, signed on century and by the 1880s a favorite with
the base in gold overlay with a circular seal- globe-trotting visitors, during this later period
style mark Raku 樂and a signature Komai Komai focused his production on miniaturist
sei 駒井製 (Manufactured by Komai) within a furniture-shaped pieces such as the present
double rectangular reserve rich and elaborate tour de force. As with
5 1/4 × 8 × 3 in. (13.3 × 20.3 × 7.5 cm) all of Komai’s production, the decoration is
executed in nunome zōgan, literally “cloth-
$20,000 - 30,000 texture inlay,” a damascening technique in
which thin gold sheet is hammered onto an
iron surface previously scratched with thin
Around 1873 Komai Otojirō, son of a sword- lines which provide a “key.”
fitting maker from Higo Province, started
selling his richly decorated wares in the Reference
international port of Kobe. Before long, his Chamberlain 1901, Advertisement
chargers, vases, and other items of iron Supplement, pp. 63, 78
overlaid with gold and silver, sold under an
exclusive contract with the Ikeda Company,

ANCIENT SKILLS, NEW WORLDS TWENTY TREASURES OF JAPANESE METALWORK FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION | 11