Skip to main content
Bonhams
Search

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

A STONEWARE FIGURE OF AN ONI SUPPORTING A CLOUD Japan, Edo period,
A PAIR OF MIYAO BRONZE FIGURES Japan, By the Miyao workshop, Meiji period, late 19th century,

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

THREE BAMBOO FLOWER BASKETS Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989) era, 20th century
OKAMOTO RYŌZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY A Small Ceramic Vase and Cover Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1900
A GROUP OF FOUR JAPANESE BRONZES Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century,
An Arita blue and white porcelain plate, Kanbun (1663–1673) or Enpô Era (1673 - 1681)
Ryoun: A SET OF SIX HIRADO PORCELAIN DISHES
A rare Arita rectangular sander, circa 1680-1700
A SMALL LACQUER FAN-SHAPED KŌBAKO (INCENSE CONTAINER) Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century,
A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF TWO MONKEYS HANGING FROM A BRANCH Japan, 20th century,
A RECTANGULAR MIXED-METAL INLAID BOX WITH TIGER MOTIF Japan, 20th century,
A POLYCHROME WOOD CARVING OF RANRYO-O, THE PRINCE OF LANLING Japan, 19th century
A BRONZE FIGURE OF A RECUMBENT LION Japan, Meiji period, late 19th century,
TWO ZUSHI (PORTABLE SHRINES) Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century,
A LARGE STONEWARE PLATTER Bizen Ware Showa (1926-1989) or Heisei (1989-2019) era, 20th/21st century
A NEGORO LACQUER CUP STAND AND A TEABOWL STAND Japan, Muromachi and Momoyama period,
ELEVEN KISERUZUTSU PIPE CASES Japan, 19th century,
EIGHT INRO Japan, 19th - 20th century,
SEVEN CERAMIC VESSELS AND A FIGURE Japan,
A WOOD BOKUTO IN THE FORM OF A COILED DRAGON Japan, Meiji period, 19th/20th century,
A SMALL LACQUER BOX Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era, early 20th century,
SEVEN DECORATIVE VESSELS AND ACCESSORIES China and Japan, mostly 19th century,
TWO CLOISONNE-ENAMELED RECTANGULAR BOXES Japan, late 19th century,
FOUR CERAMIC CUP STANDS AND A KOGO Japan, 19th/20th century
Previous Lot
Next Lot
An extremely rare and fine cloisonné enamel model of a traditional go-ban (games board) By Honda Kozaburo of Nagoya, Meiji Period image 1
An extremely rare and fine cloisonné enamel model of a traditional go-ban (games board) By Honda Kozaburo of Nagoya, Meiji Period image 2
An extremely rare and fine cloisonné enamel model of a traditional go-ban (games board) By Honda Kozaburo of Nagoya, Meiji Period image 3
An extremely rare and fine cloisonné enamel model of a traditional go-ban (games board) By Honda Kozaburo of Nagoya, Meiji Period image 4
An extremely rare and fine cloisonné enamel model of a traditional go-ban (games board) By Honda Kozaburo of Nagoya, Meiji Period image 5
Lot 255*

An extremely rare and fine cloisonné enamel model of a traditional go-ban (games board)
By Honda Kozaburo of Nagoya, Meiji Period

Fine Japanese Art
5 November 2009, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £216,000 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Japanese Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

An extremely rare and fine cloisonné enamel model of a traditional go-ban (games board)

By Honda Kozaburo of Nagoya, Meiji Period
The elegant go floor board is raised on four integral, low bulbous legs and finely worked entirely in silver and gold wire, the four sides alternating between ho-o roundels scattered among kiri-mon interweaved amongst karakusa and confronting butterfly roundels and kiku blossoms among karakusa reserved on a transparent ground flecked with aventurine, the playing surface with the intersecting lined grid finely rendered in gold wire, the underside similarly embellished with stylised foliate motifs on a mustard-yellow ground; the heso signed Dai Nippon Honda sei, with wood storage box. 23cm x 41cm x 44cm (9in x 16 1/16in x 17 1/8in). (2).

Footnotes

鳳凰蝶図七宝碁盤　本多興三郎　明治時代

Go (or Wei Qi as it is known in China) is considered by most Oriental game experts to be the world's greatest strategic skill game, far surpassing Chess in its complexity and scope. Of all the serious board games, go has the fewest rules and yet, the game itself is the most intellectually challenging. The mathematical elegance of the rules is complemented by the great beauty of the board, especially in Japan where it has been elevated to a pinnacle of aesthetic beauty.

The exceptionally fine condition and exquisite workmanship of this piece allow us to appreciate the remarkable technique and wide repertoire of the Japanese cloisonné enamel maker's craft and in particular, the aventurine ground which is specifically referred to by Brinkley in Artistic Japan at Chicago: A Description of Japanese Works of Art Sent to the World's Fair, Yokohama 1893, as a special characteristic of Honda's work. The artist's works are as highly sought after today as they were during his lifetime and extant signed works by Honda, particuarly of this extraordinary quality, are extremely rare.

Although go boards of ivory, wood and other materials are in abundant supply, a cloisonné enamel example of this superlative quality, as presented here, is hitherto unrecorded. This would therefore strongly suggest that it was either commissioned directly from the artist by a wealthy industrial family to present as a gift or that it was made for Bankoku Hakurankai (International Exhibition) entry.

Compare also with a go-ban which belonged to the Tokugawa Family, lacquered with maki-e patterns of tortoise-shell and aoi-mon crest, illustrated by Colin Mackenzie and Irving Finkel, Asian Games: the Art of Contest, Asia Society 2004, p.208, no.16:7.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A STONEWARE FIGURE OF AN ONI SUPPORTING A CLOUD Japan, Edo period,
A PAIR OF MIYAO BRONZE FIGURES Japan, By the Miyao workshop, Meiji period, late 19th century,
THREE BAMBOO FLOWER BASKETS Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989) era, 20th century
OKAMOTO RYŌZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY A Small Ceramic Vase and Cover Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1900
A GROUP OF FOUR JAPANESE BRONZES Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century,
An Arita blue and white porcelain plate, Kanbun (1663–1673) or Enpô Era (1673 - 1681)
Ryoun: A SET OF SIX HIRADO PORCELAIN DISHES
A rare Arita rectangular sander, circa 1680-1700
A SMALL LACQUER FAN-SHAPED KŌBAKO (INCENSE CONTAINER) Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century,
A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF TWO MONKEYS HANGING FROM A BRANCH Japan, 20th century,
A RECTANGULAR MIXED-METAL INLAID BOX WITH TIGER MOTIF Japan, 20th century,
A POLYCHROME WOOD CARVING OF RANRYO-O, THE PRINCE OF LANLING Japan, 19th century
A BRONZE FIGURE OF A RECUMBENT LION Japan, Meiji period, late 19th century,
TWO ZUSHI (PORTABLE SHRINES) Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century,
A LARGE STONEWARE PLATTER Bizen Ware Showa (1926-1989) or Heisei (1989-2019) era, 20th/21st century
A NEGORO LACQUER CUP STAND AND A TEABOWL STAND Japan, Muromachi and Momoyama period,
ELEVEN KISERUZUTSU PIPE CASES Japan, 19th century,
EIGHT INRO Japan, 19th - 20th century,
SEVEN CERAMIC VESSELS AND A FIGURE Japan,
A WOOD BOKUTO IN THE FORM OF A COILED DRAGON Japan, Meiji period, 19th/20th century,
A SMALL LACQUER BOX Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era, early 20th century,
SEVEN DECORATIVE VESSELS AND ACCESSORIES China and Japan, mostly 19th century,
TWO CLOISONNE-ENAMELED RECTANGULAR BOXES Japan, late 19th century,
FOUR CERAMIC CUP STANDS AND A KOGO Japan, 19th/20th century