20 - KANSHOSAI TOYO: A SUPERB TWO-CASE LACQUERED WOOD ‘LUNAR HARES’ INRO

KANSHOSAI TOYO: A SUPERB TWO-CASE LACQUERED WOOD ‘LUNAR HARES’ INRO By Kansoshai Toyo, signed Toyo 桃葉 with kakihan Japan, late 18 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Of broad upright rectangular form and lenticular section, finely crafted from tagayasan wood and covered in translucent lacquer. One side is boldly decorated in thick, textured silver takamaki-e with two lunar hares seated closely side by side, their eyes picked out in brilliant red lacquer. The reverse shows a large full moon rendered in densely scattered silver with sparse gold highlights, above a cluster of reeds in gold lacquer. The restrained composition, exposed wood grain, and bold contrast of metallic relief give the piece a distinctly Rinpa-inspired character. The interior cases are finished in black lacquer. Signed to the underside in gold lacquer TOYO with kakihan. With a fine coral ojime. HEIGHT 7.1 cm, LENGTH 6.2 cm Provenance: Collection of Harriet Szechenyi, Zurich, Switzerland, thence by descent. Bonhams, The Harriet Szechenyi Sale of Japanese Art, 8 November 2011, London, lot 250 (sold for GBP 4,750 or approx. EUR 8,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Harriet Szechenyi (1922-2009) was a distinguished collector of Japanese art, particularly noted for her discerning collection of netsuke and sagemono. Born into a Swiss family of collectors, she began acquiring netsuke in the 1960s and subsequently developed a deep knowledge of the field, teaching herself to read Japanese signatures and studying the mythology and iconography represented in the works. Travelling extensively in Japan, Europe, and the United States, and advised in part by the specialist Luigi Bandini, she assembled a collection especially renowned for the quality and breadth of its animal subjects. Her netsuke collection was published by Rosemary Bandini in Shishi and Other Netsuke: The Collection of Harriet Szechenyi in 1999. In 2011, Bonhams offered her collection of Japanese art in a dedicated sale in London, confirming its standing as one of the important private collections of its generation. Condition: Excellent condition with only very minor nibbling to case edges. Iizuka (Kanshosai) Toyo was a distinguished lacquerer and inro decorator active in Edo during the second half of the 18th century. He attracted a considerable number of followers and employed an unusually broad range of lacquer techniques and materials. Toyo’s oeuvre includes works of strikingly different character, from finely detailed pictorial decoration to compositions of bold formal simplicity. For further reference, see Edward A. Wrangham and Joe Earle (eds.), The Index of Inro Artists, 1995, pp. 312-313. Christie’s identifies Iizuka Toyo I as active in the 18th century and gives his dates as circa 1725-1790.