Tebako

Tebako, Rimpa school

A small box with a design from Ogata Korin
Early Edo period (1615-1867)

Lacquer with lead and mother of pearl inserts

The decoration of this antique lacquer box represents Sano-no-watari, literally "crossing the Sano": a historic river crossing, often subject to ancient Japanese poetry. The place recorded as Sano, in Kii province is now considered to be Sano in Shinjuku City in Wakayama prefecture. In ancient times there was a pontoon bridge where the Kinokawa flowed into Sano bay, and this was called "the Sano crossing". A poem on this topic appears in the Manyoshu, but the crossing is best known from a poem by Fujiwara no Teika; this composition was often represented in Yamato-e with examples extant by Soutatsu (? - ca.1640) and Ogata Kōrin  (1658-1716), as in this case, depicting Teika on horseback  covering his head with a sleeve. The interior is decorated with a duck and rushes.

Price band: within 5,000€

Antique Japanese lacquer for sale. Price on application. Please include item stock number: lacc-991