379 - A MIRROR MOUNTED AS A KENBYŌ (INKSTONE SCREEN), WITH A SENNIN RIDING A CARP - Japan, late 19th to early 20th century The rectangular plate of polished metal set within a gilt-bronze frame worked in relief with dense foliate scrolls within beaded borders and surmounted by a mountain-shaped crest, the reverse with a panel worked in several alloys including shakudō and depicting a sennin astride a carp breasting rolling waves, against a mottled ground of golden tone polished to a mirror finish. The screen rising from a horizontal base and flanked by a pair of small gilt-bronze dragons, the crossbar below applied with two hōō confronted about a central group of lotus and foliage in contrasting alloys against a densely punched ground, the whole raised on rock-crystal feet. Unsigned. With the original wood box, fitted with a retaining bar and bearing calligraphic inscriptions. The box inscribed Koi-kagami Kenpyō ("Carp-mirror inkstone screen"), the underside inscribed with two characters, probably reading Imamura, presumably the name of a former owner.

A MIRROR MOUNTED AS A KENBYŌ (INKSTONE SCREEN), WITH A SENNIN RIDING A CARP - Japan, late 19th to early 20th century The rectangular plate of polished metal set within a gilt-bronze frame worked in relief with dense foliate scrolls within beaded borders and surmounted by a mountain-shaped crest, the reverse with a panel worked in several alloys including shakudō and depicting a sennin astride a carp breasting rolling waves, against a mottled ground of golden tone polished to a mirror finish. The screen rising from a horizontal base and flanked by a pair of small gilt-bronze dragons, the crossbar below applied with two hōō confronted about a central group of lotus and foliage in contrasting alloys against a densely punched ground, the whole raised on rock-crystal feet. Unsigned. With the original wood box, fitted with a retaining bar and bearing calligraphic inscriptions. The box inscribed Koi-kagami Kenpyō ("Carp-mirror inkstone screen"), the underside inscribed with two characters, probably reading Imamura, presumably the name of a former owner. Minute kintsugi repairs to the rock-crystal feet. The subject derives from the Chinese immortal Qin Gao, known in Japan as Kinkō Sennin, who entered the water to seize the dragon of the river and returned on the appointed day astride a carp before a crowd of onlookers. Taken up in Japan from the Muromachi period onward, the theme was treated by Sesson Shūkei, Ogata Kōrin and Maruyama Ōkyo among others, and carved on the Yōmeimon at the Tōshō-gū in Nikkō. W: 18cm H: 19.2cm scratches Tomobako (artist-inscribed box) Japan, late 19th century to early 20th century