25 - KOMA KANSAI: A FOUR-CASE GOLD LACQUER ‘ONNA SAN-NO-MIYA WITH HER CAT’ INRO

KOMA KANSAI: A FOUR-CASE GOLD LACQUER ‘ONNA SAN-NO-MIYA WITH HER CAT’ INRO Lineage of Koma Kansai, signed Kansai 寛哉 saku 作 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 and hiramaki-e, enriched with gold kirigane. One side shows Onna San-no-Miya elegantly dressed in richly patterned, voluminous court robes and holding a fan, her figure surrounded by delicately scattered cherry blossoms. The reverse continues the scene with a playful cat wearing a red collar and tugging at the long trailing cords of an elaborate kusudama, further cherry blossoms scattered across the gold ground. The interior cases are finished in nashiji with gold fundame rims. Signed underneath in gold hiramaki-e KANSAI saku [made by Kansai]. With a carved globular ojime. HEIGHT 8.9 cm, LENGTH 5.9 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: Good condition. With a crack to the bottom edge and some losses, as well as minor repairs to the cord runners along the edges. The image itself is well preserved, with only light rubbing and a few minor surface scratches. The subject of the present inro alludes to the celebrated episode of Onna San-no-Miya, the Third Princess, in Chapter 34, ‘Young Herbs I’, of The Tale of Genji. While the princess is concealed behind a bamboo blind, her cat runs out and inadvertently lifts the blind, allowing the courtier Kashiwagi to catch sight of her. He immediately falls in love, setting in motion one of the principal tragic episodes of the latter part of the narrative. Auction comparison: Compare a related four-case gold lacquer inro with a traveler being attacked by a large eel, signed Koma Kansai, 7.8 cm high, at Sotheby’s London, 7 November 2019, lot 83 (sold for GBP 3,000 or approx. EUR 4,600 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Compare the closely related treatment of the female figure, particularly the sensitively rendered face, richly patterned voluminous robes, and refined gold lacquer work.