Project Description

Lacquer 4-case Inro, Attributed to Shibata Zeshin

Of rounded form with ishime ground, decorated with an oi, the portable cabinet of an intinerant, with his straw hat and staff. Inside the cabinet is a bowl, and a rosary hangs over the open door. The ground is engraved with autumn grasses and flowers. Typical of Zeshin is the trompe-l’oeil shitan wood of the cupboard with its scratched grain, pricked out with the rat’s tooth employed for his signature
Scratched signature. Circa 1880
6.9 cm
Provenance:
W.L. Behrens collection, listed but not illustrated, in Joly’s catalogue, p. 15, no. 45
F.A. Richards collection
Purchased by E.A. Wrangham at Sotheby’s London, July 1963 (no. 238 in his collection)
Literature:
E.A. Wrangham, The Index of Inrō Artists, the signature illustrated on p. 346
MR3855