5 - A FINE TWO-CASE SOMADA SCHOOL INLAID LACQUER ‘CRABS AMONG REEDS’ INRO

A FINE TWO-CASE SOMADA SCHOOL INLAID LACQUER ‘CRABS AMONG REEDS’ INRO Unsigned Japan, 19 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Of wide rectangular form with lenticular section, bearing a lustrous roiro ground finely decorated in the Somada style with minute mother-of-pearl inlays. Both sides show crabs among windblown reeds beside tranquil waters, framed by richly patterned geometric and floral borders extending along the cord runners and across the top and bottom of the case. The intricate shellwork is further enriched with minute gold foil inlays. The interior cases are finished in gold fundame. With a globular glass ojime. HEIGHT 6.3 cm, LENGTH 7.3 cm Provenance: From the private collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, New York, United States. Alan Hartman (1930-2023) was an influential American art dealer, who took over his parents’ antique business in Manhattan and established the legendary Rare Art Gallery on Madison Avenue, with further locations in Dallas and Palm Beach. His wife Simone (née Horowitz) already served as assistant manager of the New York gallery before the couple were married in 1975, and together they built a renowned collection for over half a century and became noted art patrons, enriching the collections of important museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which opened the Alan and Simone Hartman Galleries in 2013, as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum in New York. Notably, they assembled an impressive collection of Japanese art, focusing on fine netsuke, inro, and lacquer. Condition: Restorations and repairs to a few mother-of-pearl inlays, with typical scattered losses to the gold foil inlays. Minor general wear, including a few small bruises to the lacquer along the edges, as well as some light surface scratches throughout. Presenting well. The ‘Somada’ technique was originally introduced from China and named after the Somada family of lacquer workers who made it popular in Japan. It is extremely demanding. Tiny slivers of iridescent shell are inlaid into black lacquer, often in complex geometric designs. During the late Edo and Meiji periods, the technique also included tiny inlays of gold foil, as seen on this example. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related Somada school three-case inlaid lacquer inro depicting crabs among reeds, unsigned, dated c. 1850, 7.7 cm high, illustrated in Max Rutherson Ltd., Inro: Including some from the Arlette Katchen Collection, 2017, no. 20, and reproduced on the cover of the catalogue.