Page 62 - Bonhams Royal Collection Fine Japanese Art London Nov. 2019

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ATTRIBUTED TO ISHIBASHI SŌJIRŌ (HEISHŪSAI) 石橋平秀齋
推定 (1847–1918)
INRŌ (MEDICINE CASE) WITH BLUE-LACQUER GROUND
菊に蝶図蒔絵青漆印籠
Meiji (1868–1912) or Taisho (1912–1926) era, late 19th–early 20th
century

With two interlocking cases and cover, the flattened hexagonal body Published:
covered in ultramarine-blue lacquer embellished with gold hirame, Glendining and Co. 1913–4, no. 208, pl. XXI
decorated in gold and coloured togidashi maki-e with three butterflies Joly and Tomita 1916, no. 201, pl. LXXXVI
and chrysanthemums, the interior gold nashiji; unsigned; with a bone International Netsuke Society Journal 2012, p.38
ojime
£20,000 - 30,000
5.4cm (2⅛in) high JPY2,600,000 - 3,900,000
US$24,000 - 36,000
Provenance:
Edward Gilbertson Collection, no. 5065
W. L. Behrens Collection, no. 208 This and two other recorded blue-lacquered inrō are discussed by
Nairn Collection Else and Heinz Kress in the International Netsuke Society Journal cited
Lt. Col. J. B. Gaskell Collection, no. 586 above, pp. 34–39. Of the three in the article, the only signed specimen
F. A. Richards Collection, sold at Sotheby’s, 1964 is in the Garrett collection, Evergreen House, Baltimore, illustrated
Victor Topper Collection by Davey and Tripp 1993, p. 208, no. 209 (there, the signature is
Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1982 mistransliterated as Taira Shusai). The third example is in the collection
Wrangham Collection, no. 1612 of Heinz and Else Kress. A fourth recently discovered example, not
Sold in these Rooms, 10 November 2015, lot 131 mentioned in the article, was sold in these Rooms, 12 May 2016, lot 279.
Each inrō depicts flowers and butterflies in a manner similar to the
present example.

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