Page 231 - Bonhams May 2017 London Fine Japanese Art

BRONZE VESSELS, 374
FIGURES AND ANIMALS
Various Properties

374*
A PLAITED COPPER-WIRE
FLOWER BASKET
Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era,
late 19th/early 20th century
The double-gourd shaped body worked in
plain mat plaiting, ‘skipping’ mat plaiting,
and twining; the base of radial plaiting,
the tall handle wrapped with a spiral band;
with a bamboo otoshi (water container).
40cm (15¾in) high. (2).

£800 - 1,000
JPY110,000 - 140,000
US$990 - 1,200

Although woven in copper wire rather than
bamboo and rattan, this basket follows the
Chinese style, popular with aficionados of
the sencha style of tea-drinking, which was
prevalent in the Kansai region throughout
the nineteenth century and into the opening
decades of the early twentieth century.

375
A SQUAT BALUSTER BRONZE VASE
By Murata Seimin (1761-1837),
Edo period (1615-1868), mid-19th century
The mottled, textured body decorated with
a pair of confronted rain dragons applied
in bronze high relief just beneath the short
everted neck; signed on the reverse Seimin
chu within a rectangular cartouche.
15.5cm (6 1/8in) high.

£800 - 1,200
JPY110,000 - 170,000
US$990 - 1,500

Seimin worked predominantly in Edo and
was renowned for his flower vases and
Buddhist altar fittings. He excelled at making
an okimono of turtles, using the lost-wax
method and cast the 500 arhats (disciples
of the Buddha) at Kenchoji Temple in Kyoto.
See Wakayama Takeshi, Kinko jiten
(A Dictionary of Metalworkers), Tokyo,
Token Shunju Shinbunsha, 1999, p.910.

375 FINE JAPANESE ART | 229
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.