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A fine suzuribako [writing box]

A fine suzuribako [writing box] Attributed to the Igarashi school Edo period, 17th - 18th century

A fine suzuribako writing box attributed to the Igarashi school from the 17th-18th century Edo period, extensively decorated with gold, silver, and black lacquer techniques. The piece features intricate hiramaki-e work depicting ho-o birds, chrysanthemums, landscapes, and autumn flowers with matching water dropper and ink stone.

Medium: the rectangular writing box with canted corners and overhanging cover with chamfered edge, decorated in gold, silver and black hiramaki-e, hirame, heidatsu, kimpun, and inlaid in silver and gold, the cover with three lobed panels alternately depicting ho-o birds in archaic style among chrysanthemums, a lakeside landscape, and a profusion of autumn flowers and foliage including chrysanthemums and reeds, each on a nashji, fundame and a sprinkled gold ground, one framed in gold, the other two in shakudo, the reverse of the cover with buildings nestling between rocky outcrops, and boats on gentle waves, the interior of the base similarly decorated, the ink stone decorated in nashiji and a sprinkled gold fundame ground, the water dropper (suiteki) in the form of a chrysanthemum, detailed in cloisonné, gold and shakudo, beneath the ink stone a rectangular plate in gold, hammered, chased and engraved with a continuation of the design beside the slate
Spotted At: Auction House · Sotheby's

🔨 Auction Lot

Pursuit of an Ideal: Fine Japanese Works of Art

October 26, 2021

Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000

Lot 41

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A fine suzuribako [writing box], A fine suzuribako [writing box] Attributed to the Igarashi school Edo period, 17th - 18th century

Medium

the rectangular writing box with canted corners and overhanging cover with chamfered edge, decorated in gold, silver and black hiramaki-e, hirame, heidatsu, kimpun, and inlaid in silver and gold, the cover with three lobed panels alternately depicting ho-o birds in archaic style among chrysanthemums, a lakeside landscape, and a profusion of autumn flowers and foliage including chrysanthemums and reeds, each on a nashji, fundame and a sprinkled gold ground, one framed in gold, the other two in shakudo, the reverse of the cover with buildings nestling between rocky outcrops, and boats on gentle waves, the interior of the base similarly decorated, the ink stone decorated in nashiji and a sprinkled gold fundame ground, the water dropper (suiteki) in the form of a chrysanthemum, detailed in cloisonné, gold and shakudo, beneath the ink stone a rectangular plate in gold, hammered, chased and engraved with a continuation of the design beside the slate

Seen at

Sotheby's, New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris