Page 93 - Christie's Fine Chinese Paintings March 19 2019 Auction

thus incurs the displeasure of Huangdi, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, here The present tray is documented as early as 1918, when it was illustrated in
represented as a dragon. Alternatively, the dragon may represent Aoguang the catalogue of a sale held at the Tokyo Bijutsu Club, consisting of property
Longwang, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, from whom the Monkey from the collection of the Duke of Tokugawa.(Fig.1) It is embellished with two
King acquired his magic wand. covers, of which the carved lacquer cover was also illustrated in the 1918 sale
catalogue. The inscription on the box also mentions that the carved lacquer
The present tray is distinguished by its association with one of the powerful cover is intended for use with the tray as jikirou, or a food vessel, and the
clans of Edo-period Japan. The box bears an inscription indicating that plainer cover is for use with the tray as part of a kaiseki food course.
the tray was once in the collection of Narinobu Tokugawa (1797-1829), the
eighth successive daimyo of Mito, an area in Ibaraki Prefecture. The Mito
branch was one of the ‘three honorable houses’ of the Tokugawa family, who
maintained considerable infuence throughout the Edo period. Even as a
youth, Narinobu Tokugawa was considered to be wise, excelling in literary
and artistic matters, and he was also an avid collector.

(lacquer cover and box)

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