HEISENSAI: A FOUR-CASE ‘TIGER AND DRAGON’ GOLD LACQUER INRO

拍品描述

HEISENSAI: A FOUR-CASE ‘TIGER AND DRAGON’ GOLD LACQUER INRO By Heisensai, signed Heisensai平川斎 Japan, late 19th century, Meiji period (1868-1912) The four-case inro of upright rectangular form with rounded corners and oval section, bearing a lustrous kinji ground finely decorated in gold, silver, red, and black takamaki-e with details in nashiji-e. One side depicts a powerful tiger standing on rocky ground, its eyes inlaid in glass, while the reverse shows a dragon emerging from swirling clouds above crashing waves, its claws extended and flames issuing from its body. The interiors are lacquered in nashiji with gold fundame rims. Signed underneath in gold HEISENSAI. With a fruit nut ojime carved with deer and an immortal beside a maple tree, together with an antler netsuke of a shishi coiled around a large ball and holding a loose tama in its mouth. HEIGHT 8.7 cm, LENGTH 5.6 cm Two Meiji-period artists, Sadahisa and Sadashige, are recorded as using the art name Heisensai. According to Lazarnick, the two were closely connected. Both are listed in Edward A. Wrangham and Joe Earle, eds., The Index of Inro Artists, 1995, pp. 219-220. The dragon and tiger form a classic pairing in East Asian art, embodying the opposing yet complementary forces of yang and yin. The celestial dragon represents strength and the heavens, while the terrestrial tiger signifies courage and the earthly realm. Together they express cosmic balance and dynamic tension. Auction comparison: Compare a related four-case lacquer inro with Chinese lions, signed Heisensai Sadashige with a red-lacquer seal, dated late 19th century, at Christie’s, Japanese and Korean Art, 21 September 2006, New York, lot 267 (sold for USD 7,800 or approx. EUR 10,500 converted and adjusted to inflation at the time of writing). Compare a related gold lacquer four-case inro with sages and a tiger, signed Heisensai Sadahisa, dated 19th century, at Bonhams, The Harriet Szechenyi Sale of Japanese Art, 8 November 2011, London, lot 350 (sold for GBP 3,500 or approx. EUR 6,000 converted and adjusted to inflation at the time of writing).

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