A very fine three-case inrô. Second half 19th century - image-1
A very fine three-case inrô. Second half 19th century - image-2
A very fine three-case inrô. Second half 19th century - image-3
A very fine three-case inrô. Second half 19th century - image-1A very fine three-case inrô. Second half 19th century - image-2A very fine three-case inrô. Second half 19th century - image-3

Lot 277 Dα

A very fine three-case inrô. Second half 19th century

Auction 1157 - overview Cologne
27.06.2020, 11:00 - Asian Art
Estimate: 3.300 € - 3.900 €
Result: 5.500 € (incl. premium)
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A very fine three-case inrô. Second half 19th century

Displaying on one side in iro-e takazôgan the figure of Benkei in full dress of a yamabushi with his wooden backpack (oi) and a traveling hat behind him, in his right hand a closed fan, and on the other side in the same technique a boy with a basket filled with pine needles, in a river landscape rendered in takamaki-e with hills accentuated with kirikane, pine trees, cherry blossoms in gold and silver (some losses) and a fence with a gateway. Nashiji and fundame to the inside with pine needles and cones in maki-e. At the bottom signed in maki-e Kajikawa saku with a red pot seal Ei/Hide; on an inlaid gold tablet signed Hamano Noriyuki (possibly Noriyuki II., 1771-1852).
Height 9 cm

The design of this inrô refers to the Ataka barrier with a famous pine. As told in the Heike Monogarari, here the famous episode of Kanjinchô took place. The location also became the subject of a play „Benkei to kodomo (Ataka no matsu)”. Here Benkei asks the local pine needle gathering boys for an alternative route to bypass the border station of Ataka and in turn presents them with fans.

Provenance

Private collection, Rhineland, acquired at Ashkenazie Oriental Arts, San Francisco, 14.11.1989 (copy of the invoice)