A GOLD LACQUER CABINET

ATTRIBUTED TO AKATSUKA JITOKU (1871-1936),(LATE MEIJI-TAISHO PERIOD, 20TH CENTURY)

Details

A GOLD LACQUER CABINET
Attributed to Akatsuka Jitoku (1871-1936),(Late Meiji-Taisho Period, 20th Century)
A very fine cabinet with a hinged door and four drawers on a scalloped base, the outside with an all-over design of a wisteria tree in bloom, in gold hiramaki-e and takamaki-e on a gold lacquer ground with areas of gold foil mosaic, the inside of the door with a design of dandelions, horsetail and other plants by a stream with butterflies overhead in gold and silver hiramaki-e and gold foil, the drawer-fronts with four unconnected seasonal plant designs including floating cherry-blossom, trefoil, pine and plum, and bamboo, the other surfaces gold nashiji, chased silver fittings with gilt and silver collars
8 x 6.7/8 x 9.5/8in. (20.1 x 17.5 x 24.4cm.)

Literature

A similar example with a wisteria design signed Jitoku sai (Akatsuka Jitoku) sold Christie's New York October 16 1990, lot 424. Further examples are in the Baur Collection and in Arakawa Hirokazu, Kindainihon no Shikkogei (Kyoto, 1985)

Lot Essay

The shape, the overall arrangement of the design, the extensive use of a matt gold ground and the subtle colouration of the lacquer on the inside of the door all point to the work of Akatsuka Jitoku, one of the leading lacquer artists of the early twentieth century who was also well-known as a painter combining Japanese and Western styles. He was appointed Teishitsu gigeiin [Artist to the Imperial Household] in 1930 [see 1 below].

1 Jan Dees, "Imperial Lacquer Boxes by Akatsuka Jitoku", Andon, vol. 8, no. 2 (1988), pp. 103-110.

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