Project Description
Kurogaki Saya-Inro with Vegetables
Made from a pleasing variegated wood, possibly kurogaki, the exterior with a pumpkin in high relief, made from what looks like a gesso mixed with sand and tiny grains, perhaps of buckwheat. Behind it is a lotus stem in pewter and nearby lie two small lacquered aubergines. The sheath is divided into 3 compartments, one of which holds three paper containers.
Unsigned. Circa 1880
Height: 7. 8 cm
With red amber or resin ojime and a stained ivory ashtray netsuke carved as a kasa (straw hat), its metal loop secured on the inside by a metal spider
Provenance:
W.L. Behrens collection, listed in Joly’s catalogue as no. 1269
MR4098
