A Sentoku Koro In The Form Of The Bumbuku Chagama

SIGNED HIOAN KATSUCHIKA, 19TH CENTURY

細節

A Sentoku Koro In The Form Of The Bumbuku Chagama
Signed Hioan Katsuchika, 19th Century
The subject is depicted at the moment of transformation, with the head of the animal emerging from one side of the kettle and the tail from the other, the eyes inlaid in shakudo and gold, the whiskers in silver gilt, the hairwork is vigorously carved into the surface and the knop of the kettle lid, serving as the smoke outlet for the koro, is in gilt bronze
3 9/16 x 4½ x 3 11/16in. (9 x 11.5 x 9.3cm.)

拍品專文

The story is of a priest who, frightened when his old kettle unexpectedly turns into a badger, gives it away to a passing tinker. Feeling like a cup of tea, the tinker stops by the side of the road, but as soon as he puts the kettle onto the fire, it again turns into a badger. The amazed tinker, seeing an advantage to be gained, tours Japan demonstrating the magical properties of his kettle. Having become rich and famous, he feels sorry for the priest and returns the kettle to him, but although it continues to make excellent tea, it never turns into a badger again.

Although generally translated in the West as "badger", the tanuki (the animal concerned in this story) is in fact a raccoon-faced dog. The Japanese word for badger is anaguma.

Hioan Katsuchika was a pupil of Hagiya Katsuhei (1804-1886).