Page 28 - Bonhams September 12 2018 New York Japanese Works of Art

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HAMANO MASAYOSHI 浜野政芳 The Hamano craft workshop played a leading role amongst the many
A Shibuichi Inlaid Jar and Cover thousands of metal sword-fitting workers who plied their trade in
武士図彫金四分一蓋物 Edo (present-day Tokyo) from about 1700 until the samurai privilege
Meiji era (1868–1912), late 19th century of wearing two swords was abolished by government edict in 1876.
Of rounded-square form, supported on four nearly cylindrical feet, Masayoshi, the maker of the present lot, worked during the decades
the bombé sides rising to a crisp shoulder, the neck narrowing around that pivotal year and is one of the few Hamano artists known
toward the rounded-square mouth which is fitted with two handles to have made a successful transition from sword-decorator to
each with a loose ring, the body of shibuichi with minute flat inlay of manufacturer of miniature ornaments.
gold and shakudō floral ornament and crests formed of six smaller
circles around a larger circle, the front and back each inset with This jar and cover, one of the finest known examples of later Hamano
a silver trapezoid plaque encrusted in gold, silver, shakudō, and work, is a tour de force of techniques honed over the previous two
shibuichi with on the front a seated samurai armed with arrows and centuries, with the workshop’s favorite shibuichi alloy, patinated to a
a fur-covered scabbard, his helmet with prominent kuwagata (horn- gray-green hue, forming the background to a rich decorative scheme
like ornaments), on the back a crow perched on a branch against that includes casting, flat and relief inlay in four different metals and
the disk of the sun, the sides chiseled with hōō and other mythical alloys, and relief carving. The subject-matter features traditional
birds and floral motifs embellished with gold, the edge of the mouth Hamano pictorial themes such as a samurai and a crow on a branch
with key-fret ornament inlaid in gold, the cover with similar ornament alongside continuous ornament that was likely drawn from one of
to the sides surmounted by a cruciform handle with extremely fine many official and semi-official design books produced during the
gold inlay of chrysanthemums and whorls, signed on the base with Meiji era.
chiseled characters Masayoshi 政芳 with a gold-inlaid seal-style mark
Masayoshi 政芳, with a later hardwood and silver stand Reference
Height without stand 4 3/4 in. (12 cm) Haynes 2001, H 04878.0
Height with stand 5 3/4 in. (14.5 cm) Wakayama 1972, p. 410
$60,000 - 80,000

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