A Four-Case Lacquer Inro with a Cart
A Four-Case Lacquer Inro with a Cart
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The Mike and Hiroko Dean Collection
A Four-Case Lacquer Inro with a Carriage

Edo period (late 17th century)

Details
A Four-Case Lacquer Inro with a Carriage
Edo period (late 17th century)
Decorated in gold hiramaki-e and takamaki-e and inlaid in lead and mother-of-pearl on a black ground with a two-wheeled cart to one side and a basket containing books, ferns and twigs to the other, karakusa scrolls to the edges, nashiji interiors and risers, fundame rims; with a tsuishu bead ojime with peony
6.7 cm. long
Provenance
W. L. Behrens Collection, no. 827
Literature
Henry L. Joly, W. L. Behrens Collection Part II, Lacquer and Inro, (Repr. New York, 1966; original edition London, 1912), no. 827, pl. XLI
Mike Dean et. al., Nihon no Shikki, Japanese Lacquer - an Exposition by M & H Dean, (Kyoto, 1984), no. 104
Barry Davies Oriental Art, Japanese Lacquer Nambokucho to Zeshin, The Collection of Mike and Hiroko Dean, (London, 2002), p. 231-233, cat. no. 90

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Anastasia von Seibold
Anastasia von Seibold

Lot Essay

This inro reflects one of the most significant trends in lacquer design during the early and middle Edo period, the revival of the classical Rimpa tradition initiated by Hon’ami Koetsu and continued by various artists.

There is no known Japanese rendition of a Japanese court carriage similar to this canopied example and therefore it is possible that it could be based on a Chinese or European attempt at a depiction of a Japanese carriage. An illustration of a cart similar to this can be found in the late 18th century European publication, Drake’s Voyages.

The basket of books and fern are possibly references to an early Chinese poem or Boyi and Shuqi, two morally upright brothers lived in China at the time of the transition between the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC) and the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046-256 BC) and retired to the Shouyang Mountain.

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