Lot 33
33
A STRIKING FOUR-CASE INRO AND ANOTHER
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A STRIKING FOUR-CASE INRO AND ANOTHER

EDO PERIOD (19TH CENTURY)

Details
A STRIKING FOUR-CASE INRO AND ANOTHER
Edo Period (19th Century)
Black lacquer ground with extensive areas of gold dust; decoration in gold and black hiramaki-e and takamaki-e with gold foil and crystal eyes; compartments and risers gold nashiji; shoulders and rims gold lacquer, unsigned
On one side a gigantic bear on a pine tree; on the reverse a branch of the tree with a mountain stream.

And another; gold lacquer ground; decoration in gold, aokin, silver and coloured takamaki-e with stained ivory; compartments and risers gold nashiji; shoulders and rims gold lacquer; signed in gold hiramaki-e on the base Shokasai and on a rectangular shell plaque Shibayama
On one side a shojo playing the flute by a huge vat of sake; on the other side another shojo dancing and wielding a sake-dipper and fan
2 7/8in. (7.3cm.) and 3 3/8in. (8.5cm.) high respectively (2)
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

Although the Shibayama family are best known for their highly decorative work for the export market towards the end of the 19th century, the ware is supposed to have been invented around 1780, and this lot would appear to be an example of pre-Meiji Shibayama work.1
1 Joe Earle, Splendors of Meiji: Treasures of Imperial Japan, Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection (St. Petersburg, Florida, 1999), pp. 93-4.

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