Page 162 - Bonhams May 16, 2019 London Japanese Art

EMBROIDERED WORKS OF ART
Various Properties

252
A SILK-EMBROIDERED PANEL OF A WINTRY SNOWY GROVE Provenance
Produced by the Iida Shinshichi House of Takashimaya, Meiji era A French private collection.
(1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century
Worked in the finest silk and metallic threads, inventively deploying Along with Nishimura Sozaemon and Kawashima Jinbei,
long and short stitches, flat and twisted threads in a palette of browns, Iida Shinshichi (1803-1874) was one of the leading Japanese
silver and white to depict a sunlit wintry snowy grove, possibly of buna producers of ornamental textiles during the Meiji era. While Nishimura
(Japanese beech) trees, within the original coromandel zelkova wood took the lead, participating in domestic and overseas exhibitions
glazed frame with brocade backing, inscribed on a copper plate: Iida from the early 1870s, Iida was at first simply a retail merchant, yet
& Co. “Takashimaya” Kyoto Tokyo Yokohama in Roman letters and in although it was not until 1879 that he acquired the licence of a gofuku-
Chinese characters Takashimaya Iida Boekiten Kyoto Tokyo Yokohama donya (wholesale dealer in silk kimono materials), his firm rose to
fixed onto the bottom of the frame on its reverse side. eminence in the late 1880s and came to rival that of Nishimura. For
Overall: 68.7cm x 86.2cm (27in x 33 7/8in); a comprehensive discussion of the origins of the Iida company, see
image: 49.5cm x 66.2cm (19½in x 26in). Hiroko T. McDermott, ‘The Way of the Newcomer: A History of the
Iida Shinshichi House (Takashimaya)’, in Hiroko T. McDermott and
£8,000 - 12,000 Clare Pollard, Threads of Silk and Gold, Ornamental Textiles
JPY1,200,000 - 1,700,000 from Meiji Japan, Oxford, The Ashmolean Museum, 2012, pp.55-65.
US$10,000 - 16,000

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