SIGNED HARUI, MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH CENTURY)

Details

An Unusual Tebako [Occasional Box]
Signed Harui, Meiji Period (Late 19th Century)
Decorated with the Chikurin Shikken [Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove] in gold, aokin, silver and black togidashi-e, hiramaki-e and takamaki-e within a border, the rims gold lacquer, the interior lined in silk brocade, signed with small gold-lacquer characters in the lower left corner of the lid Harui with a seal Kiyo, slight wear and damage

25.8cm. wide

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The signature Harui and seal Kiyo are those of Harui Kiyosaburo Komin, whose life details are now better known thanks to the discovery several years ago of the English translation of a letter from Baron Sumitomo dated 12 April 1922 concerning a famous cabinet by Komin that is now in the Khalili collection.1 Born in Osaka in 1869 he studied lacquering under Nakagawa Gyokushu and moved to Kyoto at the invitation of the well-known dealer Ikeda Seisuke. In 1912, after the closure of Ikeda's business, he moved to Kyoto and later, for health reasons, to Suma. The style of this piece would tend to suggest that it was made early in Komin's career, before he had acquired a reputation for never signing his work.

1 Oliver Impey, Malcolm Fairley and Joe Earle (eds.), The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art (London, 1995), vol. 4, part 2, cat. no. 231

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