Description
JAPAN - Mid-Edo period (1603-1868) Round ro-iro lacquer kobako decorated in gold and black lacquer taka maki-e with an ink loaf decorated with Hotei and Chinese characters Fang xi bu dai shao zi zai 放下布袋（多）少自在. Signed Ritsu zo (Ogawa Haritsu, also known as Ritsuo). Diameter: 9.9 cm The characters inscribed on the ink loaf refer to the legend of Hotei (Budai), whose name literally means "cloth bag": having gone to the market encumbered with two large cloth bags, a passerby suggested that he put them down, in order to be lighter. Hotei is very often represented with a large bag, which is said to contain treasures. Provenance: Galerie Tournet, Paris, April 1943.
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JAPAN - Mid-Edo period (1603-1868) Round ro-iro lacquer kobako decorated in gold and black lacquer taka maki-e with an ink loaf decorated with Hotei and Chinese characters Fang xi bu dai shao zi zai 放下布袋（多）少自在. Signed Ritsu zo (Ogawa Haritsu, also known as Ritsuo). Diameter: 9.9 cm The characters inscribed on the ink loaf refer to the legend of Hotei (Budai), whose name literally means "cloth bag": having gone to the market encumbered with two large cloth bags, a passerby suggested that he put them down, in order to be lighter. Hotei is very often represented with a large bag, which is said to contain treasures. Provenance: Galerie Tournet, Paris, April 1943.
