59 - TOSHIMASA: A FINE SHIBUICHI ‘SAMURAI’ TSUBA

TOSHIMASA: A FINE SHIBUICHI ‘SAMURAI’ TSUBA By Toshimasa, signed Toshimasa with kakihan Japan, 19 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Of mokkogata form, with one kozuka hitsu ana, the shibuichi migakiji ground finely decorated in gold, copper, and shakudo takazogan to depict a samurai, probably Ota Dokan, raising his hat before a rustic fence overgrown with flowering yamabuki. An open fan bearing a spray of yamabuki blossoms lies on the ground before him. The reverse depicts another warrior holding a bow and resting beneath a pine tree. Signed TOSHIMASA with kakihan. HEIGHT 6.6 cm, WIDTH 6 cm HEIGHT 2.6 cm (nakago-ana) THICKNESS 0.3 cm (seppa-dai) WEIGHT 89.1 g Provenance: Christie’s, Japanese Art and Design, 9 November 2005, London, lot 216 (part lot). From the private collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, New York, acquired from the above. 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, lacquer, and sword fittings. Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, a few light scratches, and slight rubbing. The warrior is probably Ota Dokan (1432-1486), depicted in connection with the celebrated Yamabuki legend. The yellow-flowering yamabuki on the fan beside him alludes to the episode in which Dokan, caught in a sudden rainstorm while hunting, requested a straw raincoat but was instead presented with a branch of yamabuki by a young woman. Initially angered, he later recognized her allusion to a classical poem lamenting that the yamabuki bears no fruit, the words mi no (fruit or seed) forming a pun on mino (straw raincoat), subtly expressing that she had none to offer.