Lot 18*
FIVE LACQUER SAKAZUKI (SAKE CUPS), INCLUDING THREE BY NAKAYAMA KOMIN 中山胡民 (1808–1870) 蒔絵盃 五点 Edo period (1615–1868), first half of the 19th century
10 November 2015, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £8,125 inc. premium
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Find your local specialistFIVE LACQUER SAKAZUKI (SAKE CUPS), INCLUDING THREE BY NAKAYAMA KOMIN 中山胡民 (1808–1870) 蒔絵盃 五点
Edo period (1615–1868), first half of the 19th century
Five sakazuki each of thin turned and assembled wood, with red-lacquer ground and decorated in gold, aokin, and silver hiramaki-e and takamaki-e with kirigane and nashiji; two sakazuki of the same size decorated on front and back with the shikunshi ('four noble plants': plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum), with details in uchikomi; three nested sakazuki of decreasing size decorated respectively with ferns and roundels, kikkō (hexagonal 'turtle-shell') motifs each enclosing a stylized flower, and confronted cranes around a stem of fern, each within a lozenge shape
The two larger cups unsigned
The three nested cups each signed in gold hiramaki-e on the base within the foot, the two smaller cups Komin 胡民 and the largest cup Hokkyō Komin zō 法橋胡民造 (Made by Hokkyō Komin)
The two larger cups with a fitted black-lacquered tomobako storage box containing two cloths with seals, the exterior inscribed in gold hiramaki-e Shikunshi tsuihai 四君子対盃 (Pair of sake cups with the four noble plants) and signed in silver hiramaki-e on the interior of the lid Yōdō saku 傭道作 (Made by Yōdō)
The three nested cups with fitted wooden storage box inscribed in ink inside the lid Hokkyō Komin zō 法橋胡民造 (Made by Hokkyō Komin) with seal Komin 胡民
The two larger cups each 10.5 cm (4 1/8 in.) diameter
The three nested cups 10.8, 9.6, and 8.4 cm (4¼, 3¾, and 3¾ in.) diameter (9)
Five sakazuki each of thin turned and assembled wood, with red-lacquer ground and decorated in gold, aokin, and silver hiramaki-e and takamaki-e with kirigane and nashiji; two sakazuki of the same size decorated on front and back with the shikunshi ('four noble plants': plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum), with details in uchikomi; three nested sakazuki of decreasing size decorated respectively with ferns and roundels, kikkō (hexagonal 'turtle-shell') motifs each enclosing a stylized flower, and confronted cranes around a stem of fern, each within a lozenge shape
The two larger cups unsigned
The three nested cups each signed in gold hiramaki-e on the base within the foot, the two smaller cups Komin 胡民 and the largest cup Hokkyō Komin zō 法橋胡民造 (Made by Hokkyō Komin)
The two larger cups with a fitted black-lacquered tomobako storage box containing two cloths with seals, the exterior inscribed in gold hiramaki-e Shikunshi tsuihai 四君子対盃 (Pair of sake cups with the four noble plants) and signed in silver hiramaki-e on the interior of the lid Yōdō saku 傭道作 (Made by Yōdō)
The three nested cups with fitted wooden storage box inscribed in ink inside the lid Hokkyō Komin zō 法橋胡民造 (Made by Hokkyō Komin) with seal Komin 胡民
The two larger cups each 10.5 cm (4 1/8 in.) diameter
The three nested cups 10.8, 9.6, and 8.4 cm (4¼, 3¾, and 3¾ in.) diameter (9)
Footnotes
The great late-Edo lacquerer Nakayama Komin, often considered on a par with his nearly exact contemporary Shibata Zeshin for the quality of his inrō and other small-scale lacquerwares, travelled to Edo at a young age and became a pupil of Hara Yōyūsai (see lot no. 16). In 1850 he collaborated with Zeshin on the restoration of a celebrated tebako (storage box) in the Tsurugaoka Shrine in Kamakura (Takao 2005, p. 112). Had he lived longer, he would doubtless have played a major role, like Zeshin, in establishing the global reach of Japanese lacquer art during the Meiji era.
