A SOMADA STYLE BLACK LACQUER FOUR-CASE INRO WITH GALLOPING HORSES

A SOMADA STYLE BLACK LACQUER FOUR-CASE INRO WITH GALLOPING HORSES

Unsigned
Japan, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868)

Of upright rectangular form and oval section, bearing a lustrous roiro ground, finely worked in aogai (iridescent shell) inlay in the Somada style, as well as gold and silver foil, to depict seven horses prancing and grazing among rolling hills. The interior compartments of roiro lacquer.

HEIGHT 7.7 cm, LENGTH 5.7 cm

Condition: Typical losses to the inlays. Otherwise good condition with minor wear.
Provenance: Ex-collection Claudio Perino, a collector with a keen interest in Japanese, Chinese and Far Eastern cultures. His collection consists of over 2000 works of art, partly loaned to the Museum of Oriental Arts (MAO) in Turin, Italy and to the Museo delle Culture (MUSEC) in Lugano, Switzerland. An exhibition of Kakemono scroll paintings was on view in the MUSEC until end of April 2021.

This inro is decorated in the style of shell inlay associated with the Somada, a family of lacquer artists traditionally said to have been founded by Somada Kiyosuke in the early eighteenth century. Kiyosuke is supposed to have learned the technique in Nagasaki, Edo-period Japan's window onto contemporary China, where shell inlay was one of the principal methods of lacquer decoration. Somada ware is characterized by intricate inlay of iridescent shell with tiny pieces of gold and silver foil laid flush with the ground which is usually black lacquer. The Somada family of lacquerers was employed for a time by the Maeda family, daimyo of Toyama in Etchu.

Museum comparison:
Compare a closely related Somada-style inro with horses in a landscape, at the British Museum, museum number 1981,0203.66.a.