Project Description
Four-case lacquer inro with boys by Toyo
Decorated in gold takamakie lacquer and inlays of shell, stained bone and sheet gold with nine boys carving and constructing a sculpture in the form of the character ju (auspicious character denoting long life and by extension celebration)
Signed beneath: gyonen rokuju-rokusai tōyō tsukuru [made by Toyo at the age of 66]. Circa 1780
6.6 cm
As the first Tōyō was employed by Hachisuka Shigeyoshi, daimyō of Awa, Shikoku, from 1738, it is reasonable to assume that at the time he would have been in his mid to late 20s
Literature:
Roger Weston collection, Chicago, IL
Sydney L. Moss Ltd, London
Private collection, London
Rutherston & Bandini, London
Jonathan Shannon and Raymond Ross
MR4063
