Live Auction 6638JAPANESE ART AND DESIGN
A Four-Case Inro [Medicine Case]
Lot 194THE PROPERTY OF A LADY

A Four-Case Inro [Medicine Case]

SIGNED KAJIKAWA, EDO PERIOD (EARLY 19TH CENTURY)

Price Realised

GBP 3,585

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A Four-Case Inro [Medicine Case]
Signed Kajikawa, Edo Period (Early 19th Century)
Oval with applied himotoshi; dark brown-black lacquer ground; decoration in gold, aokin, silver and coloured hiramaki-e and togidashi-e; compartments and risers gold nashiji, shoulders and rims gold fundame; each compartment containing a gold lacquer box and cover; signed in gold hiramaki-e on the base Kajikawa saku [made by Kajikawa] with a seal Ei; amber bead

Raiden the Thunder God unleashing a sudden storm on a group of courtesans, attendants and a dog who are partially illuminated by lightning
2 x 3¼in. (5.1 x 8.3cm.)

Specialist note

For other examples of this popular design see Barry Davies Oriental Art, Inro and Lacquer from the Jacques Carré Collection (London, 2000), cat. no. 10; Julia Hutt, Japanese Inro [in the Victoria and Albert Museum] (London, 1997), no. 63 (inv. no. W.206-1922); Pierre-F. Schneeberger, Japanese Lacquer [in the Baur Collection, Geneva] (Geneva, 1984), cat. no. 110; Takei Morimasa, Hana no masegaki inro-fu [A rustic blossom fence: Inro catalogue [Catalogue of the Baron Morimasa Takei collection] (Tokyo, 1917; reprinted Kyoto, 1940), no. 5 B 4.