KAN: A CERAMIC AND LACQUER-INLAID WOOD TWO-CASE INRO WITH DARUMA

KAN: A CERAMIC AND LACQUER-INLAID WOOD TWO-CASE INRO WITH DARUMA

By Ogawa Haritsu (Ritsuo, 1663-1747) or a follower, signed with two seals and Kan 観 and Shoko 尚行 (Naoyuki)
Japan, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868)

Of upright rectangular form and oval section, decorated in lacquer-enriched ceramic to depict Daruma meditating. The verso is decorated with a hossu (Buddhist fly whisk) and a mokugyo bell. Signed with two seals KAN and SHOKO (Naoyuki)—both seals were used by Ogawa Haritsu and his followers. The seal Shoko/Naoyuki seems to be predominantly found on this specific type of textured light wood netsuke and inro with ceramic inlays (see auction comparisons).

HEIGHT 7.2 cm, LENGTH 6.1 cm

Condition: Very good condition with wear and natural imperfections. One tiny chip to the corner near one of the cord holes.
Provenance: Ex-collection of Drs. Edmund and Julia Lewis. Drs. Edmund Jean and Julia Breyer Lewis are renowned experts in nephrology who met professionally and later married in 1997, and have since continued to collect Japanese art together, actively seeking the best they could find from the finest dealers in the field. Known for their keen scholarship and high aesthetic standards, for the past three decades Ed and Julie have focused on collecting lacquer art, painting, and Buddhist sculpture from Japan.

Auction comparison:
Compare a related three-case lacquered and ceramic-inlaid wood inro depicting a caparisoned elephant, signed with the same seals Shoko/Naoyuki and Kan, by Ogawa Haritsu, at Bonhams, The Harriet Szechenyi Sale of Japanese Art, 8 November 2011, London, lot 274 (sold for GBP 10,000). Also compare a related ceramic-inlaid kiri wood netsuke depicting a recumbent deer, sealed Shoko/Naoyuki, at Sotheby's, The Carlo Monzino Collection of Netsuke, Inro and Lacquer, 21 June 1995, London, lot 341 (sold for GBP 920).