Page 58 - Christies Japanese and Korean Art Sept 22 2020 NYC

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A LACQUER WRITING BOX (SUZURIBAKO) AND Ogawa Haritsu, also known as Ritsuo, one of the great
MATCHING WRITING TABLE (BUNDAI) individualists in the history of lacquer, was a poet as well as a
EDO PERIOD, EACH SIGNED MUCHUAN HARITSU, SEALED KAN painter, potter and lacquerer. In the 1680s, he became a disciple
(OGAWA HARITSU; 1663-1747) of the haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). Haritsu turned to
The rectangular box, decorated in gold, silver and black hiramaki-e, lacquer after 1707, the year his friends Hattori Ransetsu and Takarai
takamaki-e and inlaid mother-of-pearl and porcelain with a flying Kikaku, both disciples of Basho, died. He adopted the art name
sparrow and ears of rice, the writing table decorated with a pair of Ritsuo, or "Old man in a torn bamboo hat," in 1712. The name
quails and a branch of millet, the wood exterior with deep grooves suggests a poet or artist wandering carefree.
and grain and polished in dark brown
Writing box 7æ x 9¬ x 2¡ in. (20 x 24.4 x 6 cm.); Writing table The decoration of this stationery box is set against a wood surface
25º x 13√ x 5º in. (64.1 x 35.2 x 13.3 cm.) (2) that has been rubbed to create an aged, worn appearance. Haritsu
specialized in the combination of unusual materials such as pottery,
$50,000-70,000
bone, lacquer, shell and wood. His sophisticated taste and modern
approach appealed to literati circles in the eighteenth century, and
PROVENANCE: he served as both artist and artistic adviser to the daimyo Tsugaru
The Tsugaru Family Collection, by repute
Nobuhisa (1669-1746). By the late nineteenth century, Haritsu was
Private Collection, Aomori Prefecture
venerated in the West as one of the great artists of Japan, along with
Hokusai and Korin.