A silver lacquer four-case inro By Koma Kansai, after a design by Sakai Hoitsu, 19th century
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Find your local specialistA silver lacquer four-case inro
Of upright form, bearing a fine rogin-nuri ground, lacquered in sumie and slight-coloured togidashi with two crows perched on a snow-covered, twisted trunk of a pine tree, with the pale disc of the rising sun behind, the reverse with a peony growing from a rice stook, lacquered in similar style and the interior of rich nashiji, signed Hoitsu hitsu with seal, Koma Kansai utsusu; with red glass ojime. 10.2cm (4in).
Footnotes
入り日に雪枝鴉図蒔絵印籠 銘「古満寛哉寫」「抱一筆 （方印）」 19世紀
Provenance: Pangibaud collection, sold at Portier, Paris, 1972.
Michael Birch collection, purchased at Sotheby's, London, 1980.
Wrangham collection, no.1474.
Exhibited: Meiji: Japanese Art in Transition, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Holland, 1987, no.142.
In Japan, the crow is considered an auspicious bird and is often depicted by a number of artists, including Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891), Watanabe Seitei (1851-1918) and not least, Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889) who became known especially for his crow paintings and prints, repeating the subject frequently. Not only did the artist have exceptional knowledge of the character of his subject but he even identified personally with the bird.
