A TWO-TIERED SUZURIBAKO [WRITING BOX]

MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY)

Details

A TWO-TIERED SUZURIBAKO [WRITING BOX]
Meiji Period (Late 19th/Early 20th Century)
Of rectangular form; black lacquer ground; decoration in gold hiramaki-e and shell; interior with decoration in gold hirame and togidashi-e; ink-stone with gold lacquer rim; nashiji sides and hirame underside; water-dropper with gold details; rims of box and lid silver; cord-fittings silver; with wooden storage box

Exterior with stylised branches of winter-flowering plum in neo-Rinpa style overlaid with a single character uguisu [bush-warbler] in shell; interior with a profusion of stylised snowflakes
3 x 5 x 8.3/8in. (9.5 x 13.9 x 21.2cm.)

Provenance

The form of this tiered suzuribako is loosely based on a type seen in mid- Edo-period writing-boxes associated with Ogata Korin (1658-1716) and his immediate successors [see 1 below] and the design itself is an example of the second revival of the so-called Rinpa style (taking its name from the second character of Korin's name) which occurred in lacquer towards the end of the 19th century. For similar uses of shell characters on neo-Rinpa and other designs of this period, see 2 below. The uguisu, a harbinger of spring, is a favourite subject in Japanese lacquer, celebrated above all in the famous Hatsune no chodo wedding set, completed in 1639.

1 William Watson (ed.), The Great Japan Exhibition: Art of the Edo Period (London, 1981), cat. no. 165
2 Spink & Son Ltd., Japanese Lacquer: Miyabi Transformed (London, 1997), cat. no. 46; Christie's, New York, 17 September 1997, lot no. 222

Literature

Eskenazi Limited, Japanese Netsuke, Inro and Lacquer-ware (London, 1986), cat. no. 63

Lot Essay

The form of this tiered suzuribako is loosely based on a type seen in mid-Edo-period writing-boxes associated with Ogata Korin (1658-1716) and his immediate successors1 and the design itself is an example of the second revival of the so-called Rinpa style (taking its name from the second character of Korin's name) which occurred in lacquer towards the end of the 19th century. For similar uses of shell characters on neo-Rinpa and other designs of this period, see 2 below. The uguisu, a harbinger of spring, is a favourite subject in Japanese lacquer, celebrated above all in the famous Hatsune no chodo wedding set, completed in 1639.

1 William Watson (ed.), The Great Japan Exhibition: Art of the Edo Period (London, 1981), cat. no. 165

2 Spink & Son Ltd., Japanese Lacquer: Miyabi Transformed (London, 1997), cat. no. 46; Christie's, New York, 17 September 1997, lot no. 222

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