An unusual lacquer four-case inro 17th century
Lot 6
An unusual lacquer four-case inro 17th century
Sold for £1,875 (US$ 2,809) inc. premium

Lot Details
An unusual lacquer four-case inro 17th century
An unusual lacquer four-case inro
17th century
Both sides decorated with a shaped panel enclosing the real and imaginary inventors of botany, agriculture and herbal medicine, one side showing Shinno (Chinese: Shennong), typically depicted with a large head, flowing beard and two rudimentary horns, wearing a mugwort cloak, seated against a rock, holding a bunch of leaves and a staff, the reverse with Ri Jichin (Chinese: Li Shizhen), walking with a scythe suspended with a basket carried over his shoulder, all lacquered in gold takamakie with discreet details inlaid in kirikane, both figures inlaid in tortoise-shell, reserved on a red-lacquered simulated-textile ground, the sides, cord holes, top and bottom decorated with scrolling ferns in gold hiramakie, the interior of nashiji, unsigned; bearing the original Red Cross Exhibition label (wrongly labelled no.227). 6.6cm (2½in) high.

Footnotes

  • 神農に李時珍図鼈甲象嵌蒔絵印籠　無銘　17世紀

    Provenance: W. L. Behrens collection, no.273, illustrated in the Catalogue, pl.XVI.
    Purchased at Glendining & Co. Ltd., London in 1947.

    Exhibited: Loan Exhibition held in London in aid of the British Red Cross, October-November, 1915, no.235.
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