SIGNED TAISAI, MEIJI PERIOD (EARLY 20TH CENTURY)

Details

IKEDA TAISHIN (1825-1903)
A LACQUERED TRAY
Signed Taisai, Meiji Period (Early 20th Century)
Plain grained wood; decoration in black tetsusabi-nuri lacquer with gold and coloured hiramaki-e depicting a pine trunk with vine leaves and a pine branch and needles, signed in gold hiramaki-e Taisai
½ x 10 1/8 x 12½in. (1.4 x 25.7 x 31.9cm.)

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.

Sale room notice

Please note this lot is signed Taisai and is not by Taishin as stated in the first line of the description in the catalogue.

Lot Essay

The first character of the signature was also used by Ikeda Taishin (1825-1903), the leading pupil of Shibata Zeshin, and it is therefore likely that Taishin was, in turn, Taisai's master.1 This is an example of a new type of lacquer design that made its appearance in the early years of the last century, where plant forms are schematized and depicted as though seen from close quarters but are deprived of any naturalistic context. Tetsusabi-nuri, one of several new lacquer grounds invented by Zeshin in the mid-19th century, is created using charcoal dust, vinegar, and benigara [iron oxide dust].

1 Joe Earle, Splendors of Meiji: Treasures of Imperial Japan, Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection (St. Petersburg, Florida, 1999), cat. no. 199.

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