Japanese Lacquered Cabinet ‘Shodana’ from the Arashiyama Museum, 19th Century

Signed: “Kajikawa saku” and with a red pot seal Height: 3 1/8in (7.9cm) Provenance: Michael Tomkinson Collection Leonard Haber Collection Literature: Michael Tomkinson, A Japanese Collection, London: George Allen, 1898, no. 300 Each case with slightly recessed joints and with different grounds, including kinji, nashiji, togidashi maki-e and gyobu-nashiji, on the obverse decorated with a treasure ship laden with the attributes of the Seven Gods...

This pair of screens belongs to a genre of lyrical paintings of flowers, grasses, and other plants that flourished around the middle of the 17th century and became a specialty of the Sôtatsu studio. The use of a rather complex composition of clusters of flowers and the puddling of ink was initiated by Tawaraya Sôtatsu, the founder of the Rimpa School, who was active from 1600 until 1642. The screens are abstract and decorative but there is, at the same time, a keen sense of naturalism not only in the attention to accurate detail but in the profusion of vegetation. The passage of the year is symbolized by the variety of plants that bloom in different seasons. The tarashikomi - here used on leaves, petals and trunks - is a Classic Rinpa technique in which pale black ink or a color is brushed onto an area of a painting and then either darker ink, or the same or a contrasting color, is dropped into the first before it has completely dried, creating an effect of pooled colors with softly blurred edges. Its delicacy, preciousness, and effeminacy are identified with the over-refinement of its patrons, while the vigor, monochromatic discipline, sharp observation, and virile forms of the Kano school are a testament to the vitality of the rising warrior class. The plants are almost all identifiable: in the summer-spring part, you can find wheat, buttercups, irises, begonias, hydrangeas, coral bells...

Antique Negoro lacquer wares were produced at the Negoro-ji temple complex in Izumi Province. The red layers of lacquer on Negoro wares are intended to ...

The scene is dominated by a plum tree in bloom under which a couple of paradise birds is courting. The screen is crossed by a luxuriant creek, a typical feature of the springtime.  

Wooden basin with ear-shaped handles decorated with hiramaki-e lacquer and gold and silver kirigane on a nashi-ji ground. The large and thick antique woo...

In the pleasure districts, the stringent codes were meant to be forgotten. In this painting, some clients are watching from outside the teahouse, while some are entering, one of them...

Incredible example of Asian lacquer carving. Standing over seven feet tall, this monumental display shelf was produced in Japan at the end of the Ed...

A Chinese mid-19th century cabinet made with lacquered blackwood and rosewood. This tall cabinet adopts a rectangular shape and features the contrasting details of rosewood and black...

Originally a black lacquer cabinet, but much of the lacquer have peeled off, revealing the lovely wood underneath. Only the middle doors open, the panels on the left and right are se...

A late 19th century carved cabinet from Longyan city, Fujian province, China. The name Longyan (??) literally translates into "Dragon's rock". This 3-tier carved cabinet has beautifu...

A Chinese red lacquered cabinet with gilt decoration from the late 19th century. This cabinet is a great size and is highly decorative and useful with a lot of hidden storage space.

Antique Chinese tapered cabinet. Solid elm wood with round corner details, tapering 33 at the top to 34 at the bottom. Classic Chinese ...