JAPANESE AND KOREAN ART 23 march 2022

692
691
TOJU
A dark brown lacquer four-case inro
Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century
Of lenticular profile with integral cord-runners, decorated in gold, silver,
and colored hiramaki-e and takamaki-e against a polished dark brown
ground depicting Hotei leaning on his sack, the reverse with a scroll,
a fan and the head of a gnarled staff in shell inlay, the interior red
lacquer, the rims fundame, signed Gyonen nanajusai Toju (Toju, aged
70) with a kao (cursive monogram)
3in (7.6cm) high
$2,500 - 3,500
Provenance
Christie’s, London, May 15, 2013, lot 430
Exhibited
“Umi o watatta Nihon no urushi (Japanese Lacquer That Crossed
the Ocean),” Hishio Katsuyama Bunka Oraikan (Center for Cultural
Exchange), Maniwa, Okayama Prefecture, October 28-November
13, 2007
692
JITOKUSAI GYOKUZAN
A gold lacquer four-case inro
Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century
Of oval profile with applied cord-runners, decorated in gold and
colored hiramaki-e and takamaki-e against a gold hirame and nashiji
ground, depicting a rats’ wedding: rats in samurai uniform carry a
norimono (palanquin) across the tiled roof of a grand human dwelling,
bamboo in the background, signed Jitokusai Gyokuzan with a kao
(cursive monogram); coral bead ojime
3 1/2in (8.9cm) high
$10,000 - 15,000
Provenance
Shep Brozman Collection
Sydney L. Moss, Ltd., London, May 2012
Published
Louis Lawrence, Japanese Inro from the Brozman Collection, London,
Genlux Holdings Ltd., 1993, p.175
FINE JAPANESE AND KOREAN ART | 93