Project Description
Four case inro with Horse and Rider by Koma Yasutada
The inro shows an unusual view of the horse trying to buck its rider.
Roiro ground with mura-nashiji; decoration in polychrome togidashi. Compartments and risers in red lacquer; shoulders and rims in fundame
Signed in raised gold lacquer: Koma Yasutasa saku. Late 18th century
Provenance:
Alexander G. Moslé collection
His sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, 22nd April 1948, no. 14
Charles A. Greenfield, New York
Eskenazi, London, 1990, where bought by the present owner
Information:
According to a sixth century legend, a hurricane had destroyed estates in the Kamo region near Kyoto; a propitiatory festival was then ordered by the emperor to appease the Shinto gods, to be celebrated each year in the fourth month on the day of the cockerel. During this festival two men on horse-back, one dressed in black and the other in red, took part in a horse race
Exhibited:
Berlin, 1909, Königliches Kunstgewerbe Museum, Ausstellung Japanische Kunstwerke Sammlung Moslé, no. 1734 in the catalogue
E.A. Seemann, The Moslé Collection Descriptive Catalogue, 1914, vol. II, no. 1734, illustrated on pl. CXV
New York, 1972, Japan House Gallery, The Magnificent Three, no. 71;
Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, Japanese Lacquer 1600-1900, Selections from the Charles A. Greenfield Collection, 1980, no. 89, illustrated fig. 106
Literature:
Eskenazi, London, The Charles A. Greenfield collection of Japanese lacquer, 1990, no. 89
MR1068