SHIBATA ZESHIN: A SUPERB LACQUER AND ANTLER NETSUKE OF AN INK CAKE

拍品描述

SHIBATA ZESHIN: A SUPERB LACQUER AND ANTLER NETSUKE OF AN INK CAKE By Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891), signed Zeshin 是眞 Japan, c. 1850-1880 Finely carved as an ink cake, the front in relief with various takaramono, including a sedge hat (gasa), a straw rain coat (mino), and some of the Seven Treasures (shippo), surmounted by two stems of horsetail stems (tsukushi) carved from antler, and the reverse with three words ‘yusetsu (friendship)’, ‘jori (reason)’, and ‘furan (undisturbed/peace)’. The netsuke brilliantly lacquered in imitation of an ink cake and detailed with simulated wear and old cracks. Two himotoshi through the underside and signed to the narrow side ZESHIN. LENGTH 3.1 cm Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891) was a Japanese painter, lacquer artist, and printmaker of the late Edo period to early Meiji era. He has been called ‘Japan's greatest lacquerer.’ His work, unlike the oils that were used by so many of his contemporaries, never needs re-touching and never fades. He was a master of emulating oil or ink painting with lacquer and combined groundbreaking techniques with traditional subjects. His studio was situated on the bank of a river, providing him with ample opportunity to observe nature, and the creatures that inhabit the natural world. Like many painters of the 19th century, he was eclectic in his sources and would have been exposed to traditional styles. However, Zeshin's skill level was such that he could fluidly mix techniques, ideas, and stylistic options, thus painting part of a composition in one manner and including elements of another to add variety and dynamics unheard of at the time. The symbols allude to the Seven Treasures of the writing desk (bunbo shippo): the brush (fude), ink (sumi), paper (kami), inkstone (suzuri), water dropper (suiteki), paperweight (bunchin) and paper knife (kogatana). The netsuke itself represents an ink cake. The term tsukushi is written with two Chinese characters for earth and brush, thus symbolizing a brush. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related lacquer and marine ivory netsuke of an ink cake with horsetail stems, unsigned and attributed to Zeshin, illustrated in Patrizia Jirka-Schmitz (2000) Netsuke: Trumpf Collection, vol. 2, Linden Museum, 2000, p. 265, no. 108. Auction comparison: Compare a related lacquer inro and netsuke in the form of an ink cake, by Shibata Zeshin, at Bonhams, The Harriet Szechenyi Sale of Japanese Art, 8 November 2011, London, lot 358 (sold for GBP 18,750 or approx. EUR 32,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).

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