29 - A MAGNIFICENT THREE-CASE GOLD LACQUER INRO IN THE FORM OF A COMPLETE SUIT OF ARMOR (GUSOKU)

A MAGNIFICENT THREE-CASE GOLD LACQUER INRO IN THE FORM OF A COMPLETE SUIT OF ARMOR (GUSOKU) Unsigned Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912) Superbly conceived and executed as a complete suit of samurai armor formally displayed upon its storage chest (yoroi-bitsu), the entire surface bearing a luminous kinji ground and meticulously decorated in gold, silver, and iro-e takamaki-e and hiramaki-e. The armor is rendered with extraordinary attention to its individual components: the kabuto helmet surmounted by broad kuwagata and a circular maedate bearing a mon, above the layered shikoro neck guard and fierce dark-lacquered menpo mask; broad sode protect the shoulders, flanking the richly ornamented do cuirass, while the arms are covered by articulated kote terminating in finely detailed tekko hand guards. Below, the overlapping kusazuri and paired haidate are carefully reproduced, their lacing, plates, textile patterns, and fittings individually delineated. Virtually every visible element of a formally displayed suit of armor is thus translated into miniature lacquer with remarkable precision. The armor rests upon its yoroi-bitsu, the traditional chest in which the disassembled suit was stored and transported and upon which it could be displayed, the front embellished with the character 前 (mae, “front”) in mother-of-pearl. The interiors are finished in fine nashiji with gold fundame rims. The sculptural modeling, minute textile patterns, simulated metal fittings, and contrasting lacquer surfaces lend the diminutive ensemble an extraordinary sense of realism and monumentality. With a crackled amber ojime. HEIGHT 11.2 cm, LENGTH 6.1 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 minor wear, a visible crack between the cord holes on the top case, and light rubbing to lacquer. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related three-case lacquer inro in the form of an armor, by Shokasai, 15 cm high, at Christie’s, Japanese Art and Design, 14 November 2001, London, lot 188 (sold for GBP 14,100 or approx. EUR 31,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).