EDO PERIOD (PROBABLY LATE 17TH/18TH CENTURY), EDO/MEIJI PERIODS (19TH CENTURY), EDO/MEIJI PERIODS (19TH CENTURY)

Details

THREE INRO
Edo period (Probably late 17th/18th Century), Edo/Meiji Periods (19th Century), Edo/Meiji Periods (19th Century)
A three-case inro in Kamakura-bori style, brown-black lacquer ground overpainted with red lacquer, worked in relief; compartments, risers, shoulders and rims brown-black lacquer, with traces of red ink; stone ojime

Butterfly designs

An unusual carved amber three-case inro, the front carved in low relief with a monkey in human dress carrying a bow on its back; the reverse plain; stained ivory ojime

A three-case inro, polished wood ground with ceramic inlay and applied gold and silver; interiors plain wood; carved wood ojime; plain wood manju netsuke

The front with a roundel depicting Shoki the Demon-Queller wearing a ferocious expression; the reverse with a prostrate demon
2¾in. (6.9cm.) and 37/8in. (10cm.) high (3)

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

Although ostensibly in Kamakura-bori style, in which red lacquer is applied to a carved wooden base, the first inro would appear to have been decorated in relief lacquer in a variant on the takamaki-e technique. The motif of Shoki or another deity in a roundel was much used by mid- and late-19th century designers working in the manner of Ogawa Haritsu (1663- 1747); for other examples see Honolulu Academy of Arts, Shadows and Reflections: Japanese Lacquer Art from the Collection of Edmund J. Lewis (Hong Kong, 1996), cat. nos. 26 and 27

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