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Lot 76
SEGAWA SHŌRYŪ A Black- and Colored-Lacquer Tebako (Accessory Box)
Showa era (1926-1989), circa 1925-1935
Showa era (1926-1989), circa 1925-1935
14 December 2023, 17:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$12,160 inc. premium
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SEGAWA SHŌRYŪ
A Black- and Colored-Lacquer Tebako (Accessory Box)
Showa era (1926-1989), circa 1925-1935
Rounded rectangular with a domed inrōbuta (flush-fitting lid), the exterior decorated in gold, silver, and colored hiramaki-e and high-relief takamaki-e with inlay of gold, silver, and shell, the eyes inlaid in crystal, all against a polished black roiro ground, depicting Minamoto no Yoshihira in pursuit of Taira no Shigemori, the sides with stylized pine trees, the interior rich gold nashiji, the rims silver, signed under the lid Shōryū, with a kaō (cursive monogram); with a double wood storage box, the inner box inscribed Taikenmon no ikusa maki-e ontebako (Tebako with maki-e design of the Battle at the Taiken Gate); signed on the reverse Heian Shōryū saku (Made by Shōryū of Kyoto) and sealed Shōryū; the outer box with an exhibition inventory sticker of the Mikami Lacquer Store (Mikami Yōkōdō)
10 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 5 3/4in (26.7 × 24.1 × 14.6cm)
Showa era (1926-1989), circa 1925-1935
Rounded rectangular with a domed inrōbuta (flush-fitting lid), the exterior decorated in gold, silver, and colored hiramaki-e and high-relief takamaki-e with inlay of gold, silver, and shell, the eyes inlaid in crystal, all against a polished black roiro ground, depicting Minamoto no Yoshihira in pursuit of Taira no Shigemori, the sides with stylized pine trees, the interior rich gold nashiji, the rims silver, signed under the lid Shōryū, with a kaō (cursive monogram); with a double wood storage box, the inner box inscribed Taikenmon no ikusa maki-e ontebako (Tebako with maki-e design of the Battle at the Taiken Gate); signed on the reverse Heian Shōryū saku (Made by Shōryū of Kyoto) and sealed Shōryū; the outer box with an exhibition inventory sticker of the Mikami Lacquer Store (Mikami Yōkōdō)
10 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 5 3/4in (26.7 × 24.1 × 14.6cm)
Footnotes
This box's boldly encrusted decoration depicts a celebrated moment in the Battle of the Taiken Gate, often seen in nineteenth-century woodblock-print designs that the lacquer artist would have drawn on for his dramatic treatment of the subject. The action took place in 1156 when Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Fujwara no Nobuyori conspired to overthrow Emperor Go-Shirakawa; Shigemori, a general of the opposing Taira clan, gained entrance to the Imperial Palace through the Taiken Gate and routed Nobuyori's army. Resting during a lull in the action, he was caught off guard and attacked by Yoshitomo's son Yoshihira, but managed to remount and escape on horseback with Yoshihira in hot pursuit.
An accomplished lacquer artist known for his samurai subjects, usually from the twelfth-century wars between the Taira and Minamoto clans, Segawa Shōryū worked for the Zōhiko Company of Kyoto under the leadership of Nishimura Hikobei VIII and made lacquer decorations for the Mitsui Club in Tokyo. A label on the outer storage box for the present lot indicates that he also worked for Mikami Yōkōdō, another prestigious lacquer business that exhibited frequently at home and abroad from 1893 until 1937. For lacquer plaques by Shōryū, see Mitsui Kinen Bijutsukan (Mitsui Memorial Museum), Karei naru "Kyō maki-e": Mitsui-ke to Zōhiko shikki (Zohiko Urushi Art from the Mitsui Memorial Museum Collection), exhibition catalogue, 2011, pp.81-84 and Grace Tsumugi Fine Art, Japanese Works of Art, exhibition catalogue, London, 2015, cat.no.9; for Mikami Yōkōdō, see Erik Thomsen Asian Art, Japanese Paintings and Works of Art, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2010, cat. no.30.