33 - † HAMANO SHOZUI: A FINE THREE-CASE MIXED-METAL ‘FISHERMAN POINTING AT THE MOON’ INRO

† HAMANO SHOZUI: A FINE THREE-CASE MIXED-METAL ‘FISHERMAN POINTING AT THE MOON’ INRO Lineage of Hamano Shozui, signed Shozui (Masayuki) 政随 Japan, 18 th-19 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Of upright rectangular form with oval section, exquisitely crafted in shibuichi of ishime-textured ground, finely incised in katakiribori, and inlaid in gold and shibuichi takazogan. One side depicts a young fisherman carrying a large wicker basket over his shoulders and holding a rake beside a narrow stream, the bank highlighted with scattered bamboo and fallen leaves, while he points with one arm raised toward the moon, shown on the reverse emerging through drifting mist. The interiors of the cases are of silver. The top and underside are divided between textured and polished shibuichi grounds, the underside signed SHOZUI on the polished section. The inro is accompanied by a small disc-shaped shibuichi ojime, one side applied with a shakudo plate incised in katakiribori depicting crashing waves, the other with an additional gold plate engraved in kebori with a minogame, signed on the edge SHUNKO 春弘 with kakihan; and by a fine shibuichi hako netsuke, inlaid in shakudo and suaka hirazogan, to depict swallows flying through rain, signed within an oval reserve ISHIGURO MASATSUNE 石黒政常. HEIGHT 5.3 cm (inro) LENGTH 3.3 cm (netsuke) WEIGHT 100 g Provenance: Offered at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Works of Art, 22 March 2011, New York, lot 3056 (mid-estimate at USD 10,000 or approx. EUR 12,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Condition: Excellent condition, minor expected wear. Hamano Shozui (1696-1769) was a prominent metalworker in Edo, known for being the founder of the Hamano School of sword-fitting makers. A pupil of Nara Toshinaga, Shozui was succeeded by several metalworkers in his lineage, making it challenging to definitively attribute works to him or his followers. Tezuka Shunko was a pupil of Naoharu. Originally from Tsugaru in Mutsu Province, Shunko later moved to Edo (present-day Tokyo), where he was active during the late Edo period and produced ojime, kozuka, and other sword fittings. He is recorded in Wakayama Takeshi, Toso Kinko Jiten, 1984, p. 272. Ishiguro Masatsune is listed in Robert E. Haynes, The Index of Japanese Sword Fittings and Associated Artists, p. 983 (H 11108.0). Auction comparison: Compare a related two-case mixed-metal inro depicting quail and millet beneath a full moon, by Hamano Nobuchika, dated to the first half of the 19th century, 6.7 cm high, at Bonhams, Japanese Works of Art, 19 September 2008, New York, lot 5031 (sold for USD 5,400 or approx. EUR 7,100 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU.