Page 54 - Bonhams Royal Collection Fine Japanese Art London Nov. 2019

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SHIBATA ZESHIN 柴田是真 (1807–1891)
SWEET DISH IMITATING PEWTER
砂張盆写菓子器
Edo period (1615–1868), circa 1855

A roughly circular dish modelled in imitation of a hammered-pewter Exhibited:
platter, the thin paper body lacquered in a mixture of charcoal powder, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2017–2018
orpiment (arsenic sulphide), bengara (red iron oxide), and powdered
tin, the somewhat-uneven rim relieved by pairs of small incisions £10,000 - 15,000
at irregular intervals, the reverse of the rim with shallow scalloped JPY1,300,000 - 1,900,000
decoration, the base with a nest of concentric squares; signed with US$12,000 - 18,000
incised characters on the base Zeshin 是真
A very similar dish shown in the 2012 Zeshin exhibition at the Nezu
20.4–20.8cm (8–8¼in) diameter Museum, dated 1855, was accompanied by a fitted wood tomobako
box inscribed by the artist to the effect that it was a ‘copy of a sahari
With fitted wood tomobako, inscribed possibly by Zeshin himself, tray’, alluding to the metal alloy of that name made from lead, tin,
Seikaibon utsushi 青海盆ウツシ (Copy of a seikai tray), and with two and copper (Nezu Bijutsukan 2012, cat. no. 63). Zeshin here faithfully
auction slips (4) reproduces the hammer marks, mottled subdued colours, and
somewhat irregular surface characteristic of earlier metal prototypes
Provenance: used in the tea ceremony, themselves imitations of pewter dishes
Misumi Hisashi Collection used by sailors on Portuguese or Dutch ships that visited Japan from
三隅悠 旧蔵 the 16th century. The title inscribed on the box accompanying this
Sold in these Rooms, 10 November 2015, lot 2 example, ‘Copy of a seikai (literally, “blue sea”) tray’, may be an allusion
to this exotic origin. Similar dishes continued to be made during the
20th century by Kyoto artists including Tanaka Hyōami (1881–1972);
one example from the Wrangham Collection was sold in these Rooms,
5 November 2014, lot no. 232.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
52 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.