WITH SIGNATURE ZESHIN, MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY)

Details

A SUZURIBAKO [BOX FOR WRITING-UTENSILS]
With signature Zeshin, Meiji Period (Late 19th/Early 20th Century)
Seido-nuri ground (imitating bronze); decoration in gold, silver, black and red takamaki-e with foil and shell; sides and base seido-nuri; rims silver lacquer.

The exterior of the lid with outdoor tea utensils and a large branch of flowering peach; the interior with two poem slips; the box with a rectangular ink-stone (gold-lacquered rim), also lacquered in seido-nuri, and an oxidised silver suiteki [water-dropper]; with incised signature on the base Zeshin
2 3/8 x 9½ x 10 5/8in. (6.7 x 24.0 x 27.0cm.)

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 slightly coarse texture both of the seido-nuri ground and of the most 'Zeshinesque' elements of the cover design suggest that this may be a work by a follower or imitator of Zeshin, and this impression is borne out by the rather hesitant calligraphy of the signature.1

1 T. Goke, Bakumatsu kaikaki no shikko kaiga: Shibata Zeshin meihinshu [Lacquer and painting in late Edo and early Meiji: a collection of masterworks by Shibata Zeshin] (Tokyo, 1981), nos. 144-5, an urushi-e screen by Zeshin with a related design.

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