EDO PERIOD (EARLY 18TH CENTURY)

Details

A Pair of Rare Lacquer Chairs
Edo period (early 18th century)
The serpentine-framed chairs in the Dutch manner of about 1740 with vase splats, eagle-claw feet, the cane seats later, each with black lacquer ground decorated in gold hiramaki-e and takamaki-e embellished with gold kirikane and mother-of-pearl, the front of the splats with waterside landscapes of crags, trees and pavilions, above the scene a butterfly partially in mother-of-pearl, on the frame above splat ho-o, the frames and splats bordered with karakusa motifs, the back and seat frames and legs with a variety of floral motifs including narcissus, hagi, iris, bellflower, pinks and vine, the reverse of the backs with further flowers
Each 112cm. high (2)

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

With the expulsion of the Portuguese from Japan in 1639, the focus of the export lacquer trade shifted to the Dutch, who were permitted to retain a small trading-post and had already had some success in selling Japanese lacquer in their home country. This trade flourished for several decades, but in the closing years of the 17th century competition from Chinese export lacquerware drove the Dutch out of the market, and from 1693 larger pieces no long appear in their official shipping lists. This rare pair of lacquered chairs, datable to about 1740 by their overall shape and style, demonstrates that despite this setback Japanese craftsmen could still, on occasion, produce highly ambitious wares as private commissions for Western buyers. These chairs are decorated with elements familiar from earlier lacquerwares as well as isolated floral motifs that would be increasingly popular in later export lacquers, and the little waves that are also seen on a pair of 'union suits' that was made for Clive of India and inventoried in 1775.1

For a similar example see Edith Strässwe and Mark Hinton 'Ex Oriente Lux' Oriental and European Lacquer from the BASF Lacquer Museum Cologne, exhibition catalogue (Christie, 1989), pl. 144.

A further group of six chairs sold is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

1. Mary Archer and others, Treasures from India: The Clive Collection at Powis Castle (London, 1987), cat. no. 194.

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