EDO PERIOD (17TH CENTURY)

Details

A RARE TACHIZUTSU [SWORD CARRYING CASE] WITH GRAPE VINE
EDO PERIOD (17TH CENTURY)
Decorated along its length with a naturalistic design of meandering grape vines in gold hiramaki-e [low relief lacquer], togidashi [sprinkled designs revealed by polishing] and nashiji [sprinkled gold lacquer] against a black lacquer ground, copper fittings, the interior of the case decorated in sparse nashiji
110 cm. long

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Lot Essay

The swords of daimyo were carried in ornate cases such as this by pairs of attendants in their retinues whilst travelling. The elegant design of grapes and grapevine is painted in a lively manner - the small coils of vine and the leaves folded to show their other side give a naturalistic feel. Sprinkled gold lacquer (nashiji) used to accent the grapes and leaves adds tonal variety to the design.

For a similar example in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), New York, accession no. 2015.500.2.38a, b, go to:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection

And also see:
James C. Y. Watt and Barbara Brennan Ford, East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991), p. 247, no. 121

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