Page 29 - Bonhams Fine Japanese Art London November 2018

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A GOLD-LACQUER THREE-CASE INRO Published
By Shibata Zeshin (1807–1891), Meiji era (1868–1912), Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum), Shibata Zeshin no shikko, urushi-e
circa 1870–1890 kaiga (Shibata Zeshin: From Lacquer Arts to Painting), Tokyo, 2012,
An inro with three interlocking cases and cover, of lenticular cross- cat. no.80
section with straight sides, rounded corners, curved top and base, and
integrated cord-runners, the gold fundame lacquer ground decorated In Zeshin’s time, the ancient Chinese image of a carp or other large
in silver and black togidashi maki-e, hiramaki-e, and takamaki-e with fish ascending a waterfall in the upper reaches of the Yellow River
tetsusabi-nuri depicting on one side a carp swimming up a waterfall was an emblem of success especially associated with the Tango no
and on the other side water splashing over a crag, each side also with sekku or Boys’ Day Festival. For another inro by Zeshin executed in
small flowers and plants, the compartments and risers gold nashiji, the similar techniques and depicting carp, compare an example sold in
shoulders and rims gold fundame; painted stone ojime with gilt-metal these rooms May of last year (Bonhams 2017, lot 83). That inro bore
mounts; signed in kebori on the base Zeshin; with a fitted wooden a signature explicitly attributing the design to the great eighteenth-
storage box and paper label from the Zeshin Hyakunijunen Tsuizen century Kyoto painter Maruyama Okyo (1733–1795) and the present
Kinen Tenkan (Zeshin 120th Anniversary Display, see below). lot is one of several more works by Zeshin that incorporate carp-
7.5cm x 4.9cm x 1.7cm (3in x 1 7/8in x 5/8in). (3). related subjects derived from paintings by him. For a classic treatment
by Okyo, see Osaka Shiritsu Bijutsukan (Osaka Municipal Museum of
£40,000 - 50,000 Art), Maruyama Okyo: Shaseiga sozo e no chosen (Maruyama Okyo:
JPY5,900,000 - 7,400,000 Shaseiga, Challenging a New Frontier), exhibition catalogue, 2004,
US$53,000 - 66,000 cat. no.27, a pair of scrolls of carp, one of them with a carp swimming
in calm waters and the other with a carp ascending a waterfall, as
Exhibited here. For a painted depiction by Zeshin himself of a carp ascending a
Shibata Zeshin o Shinobu Kai (Exhibition in Memory of Shibata Zeshin), waterfall, see Goke Tadaomi, Shibata Zeshin meihinshu: Bakumatsu
Okyokan Building, Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan (Tokyo National kaikaki no shikko kaiga (Lacquer and Painting in Late Edo and Early
Museum), Tokyo, 18 July 2011 Meiji: A Collection of Masterworks by Shibata Zeshin), Tokyo, Gakushu
Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum), Tokyo, Kenkyusha, 1981, cat. no.249.
1 November–16 December 2012

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 | 27