Page 56 - Bonhams Royal Collection Fine Japanese Art London Nov. 2019

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SHIBATA ZESHIN 柴田是真 (1807–1891)
SAYA (SCABBARD) WITH DESIGN OF GINGKO NUTS
銀杏図蒔絵脇差拵
Meiji era (1868–1912), circa 1870–1890

The scabbard of mottled chadō-nuri, decorated toward the end with Exhibited and Published:
two gingko nuts and stalks, one in gold, the other in seidō-nuri, both Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum) 2012, cat. no. 41
textured with charcoal dust, a gingko leaf carved into the lacquer
ground; the scabbard-mounts all of buffalo horn with the exception of £12,000 - 18,000
the ebony kurigata (fitting for the tying cord); the kozuka (small knife JPY1,500,000 - 2,300,000
carried in the scabbard) of shakudō nanako (blue-black patinated US$15,000 - 22,000
copper-gold alloy with a granulated surface) with shibuichi and gold,
depicting a swallow and lilies; the back of the kozuka gilt with nekogaki
(‘cat scratches’); the steel blade engraved with a depiction of part of There are probably fewer than a dozen published examples of swords
a tsuitate (small non-folding screen); the hilt covered in rayskin bound lacquered by Zeshin, with the decoration often confined to a single
with twisted leather strips; the tsuba (hand guard) of black lacquer; motif toward one end of the scabbard, as here (Gōke 1981b, pl.
the seppa (washers) gilt; the fuchi (collar) of shakudō nanako and gilt, 95–100; Nezu Bijutsukan 2012, cat. nos. 40–41). The scabbard is
depicting a deer beneath a lantern hanging from the eaves of the finished in chadō-nuri (‘tea bronze’ lacquering), a brown-toned variant
Kasuga Shrine in Nara; the kashira (pommel) of buffalo horn; the tying from Zeshin’s favourite seidō-nuri (see Glossary). Careful inspection
cord of braided silk; wood tsukuri (place-holder sword blade); signed of the surface reveals that Zeshin avoided the even, highly polished
on the reverse toward the end of the scabbard, in delicately scratched finish seen in conventional sword mountings, deliberately texturing the
characters, Zeshin 是真 lacquer to produce a mottled, antique look that typifies his trademark
iki (chic) aesthetic. Zeshin expressed the different states of ripeness
47.5cm (18¾in) long of the two fruits by lacquering one in gold and the other in seidō-
nuri, and carved the leaf in the lacquer after it had dried, in imitation
With fitted wood storage box (2) of metalworking techniques. The fittings on the hilt are by other,
anonymous, artists.
Provenance:
Misumi Hisashi Collection
三隅悠 旧蔵
Sold in these Rooms, 5 November 2014, lot 4

Exhibited:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2017–2018

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