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Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真 (1807-1891) TONKOTSU (CONTAINER FOR FOOD SCRAPS) WITH DESIGN OF WAVES AND PLOVERS 波千鳥図蒔絵頓骨 Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1870-1890 (4) image 1
Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真 (1807-1891) TONKOTSU (CONTAINER FOR FOOD SCRAPS) WITH DESIGN OF WAVES AND PLOVERS 波千鳥図蒔絵頓骨 Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1870-1890 (4) image 2
Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真 (1807-1891) TONKOTSU (CONTAINER FOR FOOD SCRAPS) WITH DESIGN OF WAVES AND PLOVERS 波千鳥図蒔絵頓骨 Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1870-1890 (4) image 3
Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真 (1807-1891) TONKOTSU (CONTAINER FOR FOOD SCRAPS) WITH DESIGN OF WAVES AND PLOVERS 波千鳥図蒔絵頓骨 Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1870-1890 (4) image 4
Lot 1*

Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真 (1807-1891) TONKOTSU (CONTAINER FOR FOOD SCRAPS) WITH DESIGN OF WAVES AND PLOVERS 波千鳥図蒔絵頓骨
Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1870-1890

The Misumi Collection of Important Works of Lacquer Art and Paintings: Part I
5 November 2014, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £74,500 inc. premium

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Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真 (1807-1891) TONKOTSU (CONTAINER FOR FOOD SCRAPS) WITH DESIGN OF WAVES AND PLOVERS 波千鳥図蒔絵頓骨

Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1870-1890
With tapering sides, rounded corners, and overhanging lid, probably of wood, covered in dark-brown, almost black seidō-nuri, with a design of chidori (see overleaf) in gold takamaki-e and waves in red lacquer

Signed in scratched characters toward the base of one of the shorter sides Zeshin 是真

6.6 x 8.9 x 4.7 cm (2 5/8 x 3½ x 1 7/8 in.)

With fitted wooden tomobako storage box inscribed Zeshin-ō saku nami ni chidori maki-e tonkotsu Kakan'an Chikushin kan narabi ni dai 是真翁作　波に千鳥蒔絵頓骨　可寛菴竹真鑒並題 (Tonkotsu with waves and plovers in maki-e by the venerable Zeshin, certified and inscribed by Kakan'an Chikushin), with seal Yūsai 有斎, and open-weave silk bag with a tying cord and lacquered netsuke in the form of a covered jar

Provenance: Hirano Family, Hyakuraku-an Collection
平野家（百楽庵）旧藏　

Exhibited and published: Nezu Bijutsukan 2012, cat. no. 31
Published: Hirano 1998, cat. no. 56
(4).

Footnotes

Seasoned collectors of Japanese art may be surprised to see the word tonkotsu described as a 'container for food scraps', but as leading authority on lacquer Takao Yō explains in his catalogue entry for the Nezu Museum, tonkotsu, although normally translated as 'tobacco box', is written in the box inscription for this piece with characters that mean 'discard' and 'bone'. A container like this would thus, like the zansaisage (see lot 5), have been used to hold fish bones and other inedible scraps to avoid the faux pas of leaving them on one's plate. The design motif of waves and chidori, variously translated as 'dotterels', 'wave-birds', or 'plovers', has been used in Japanese lacquer for around a millennium and owes its origin to the poetic idea of small birds being formed from the spray of ocean waves; ever the innovator, Zeshin shows many of the birds on the ground rather than in flight. The waves were painted by hand in wet lacquer, an even more laborious method than Zeshin's trademark combed seigaiha technique.

Shōji Chikushin (1854–1936), whose gō or art name was Kakan'an, was a leading pupil of Zeshin who often signed boxes authenticating his work.

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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
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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,
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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,
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