22 - KOSAI: A FINE FOUR-CASE LACQUER ‘TWELVE ANIMALS OF THE ZODIAC’ INRO

KOSAI: A FINE FOUR-CASE LACQUER ‘TWELVE ANIMALS OF THE ZODIAC’ INRO By Kosai, signed Kosai 幸齋 saku 作 with a red pot seal Japan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Of upright rectangular form with lenticular section, bearing a luminous kinji ground, finely decorated in gold, silver, and iro-e takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, richly enlivened with gold foil and kirigane inlays. The twelve animals of the zodiac (junishi) are distributed throughout a continuous landscape traversed by a winding stream, several signs - the tiger, goat, rabbit, rat, monkey, and rooster - playfully represented by pairs, while the snake, dog, ox, horse, and boar appear singly. Above, the dragon emerges dramatically from billowing clouds, rendered in sumi togidashi maki-e in the manner of a Kano-school ink painting. The interior cases are finished in rich nashiji with gold fundame rims. Signed to the underside in gold lacquer KOSAI saku [made by Kosai] and with a red tsubo-shaped seal of the type associated with the Kajikawa family. HEIGHT 8.7 cm, LENGTH 5.3 cm Provenance: From the collection of Mrs. Frederica (Freda) Cook (1856-1925), and thence by descent. Freda Cook entered one of Britain’s most distinguished collecting families through her marriage in 1887 to Wyndham Francis Cook, younger son of Sir Francis Cook, 1st Baronet and Viscount of Monserrate (1817-1901). A wealthy textile magnate and one of the great art collectors of the 19th century, Sir Francis assembled an exceptional collection of Old Master paintings at Doughty House, Richmond, including works by Jan van Eyck, Velázquez, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, and Rembrandt. He also created a Japanese garden at his Portuguese estate of Monserrate, reflecting the family’s broad cosmopolitan interests. Among his acquisitions was the Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which he purchased in 1900 and which later achieved USD 450.3 million at Christie’s New York in 2017, establishing the world record for the highest price ever paid for a work of art at auction. Following her husband’s death in 1905, Freda inherited a considerable fortune and continued to collect works of art, including Japanese art and netsuke. Her extraordinary handwritten will, completed in 1925, comprises 95,940 words across 1,066 pages and four volumes and remains recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest will ever written. Condition: Good condition with typical losses to the kirigane flakes, minute nibbling along the case edges, tiny nicks to the cord holes, a small area of gold touchup to the lacquer ground near the top on the tiger side, and general wear consistent with age and handling, largely confined to the edges. Auction comparison: Compare a related five-case lacquer inro depicting the twelve animals of the zodiac, by Koma Yasutoshi, at Bonhams, The Edward Wrangham Collection of Japanese Art, Part III, 15 May 2012, London, lot 257 (sold for GBP 3,750 or approx. EUR 6,200 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Compare also a gold lacquer four-case inro by Kajikawa Tomohide, incorporating a closely related treatment of the dragon, at Bonhams, The Edward Wrangham Collection of Japanese Art, Part II, 10 May 2011, London, lot 201 (sold for GBP 3,840 or approx. EUR 6,900 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).