Lot 38: A Lacquer Box

(20th century), [Uematsu Hobi (1872-1933)] Of rectangular shape with recessed, rounded edges decorated in low-relief takamaki-e with blossoming chrysanthemums and the characters of a poem, tsuyu no ma ni, which are inlaid in silver, the background roiro-nuri and the recessed edges sprinkled with gold powder, portions of the blossoms and leaves repeated on the sides of the box and the interior nashiji, rims silver, the base roiro and nashiji ; in wood tomobako signed Furosai Shujin kore o (made by Furosai Shujin) and inscribed with a poem. 9 3/8 x 8 1/4 x 2in. (24 x 20.8 x 5.2cm.) PROVENANCE Wakamiya Collection NOTES The design is a classic example of a poem-picture ( uta-e ). Chrysanthemums and the words " tsuyu no ma ni (drenched by chrysanthemum dew)" appear on the lid, an allusion to a poem by Monk Sosei from the tenth-century Kokinshu : Nurete hosu yamaji no kiku no tsuyu no ma ni itsuka chitose o ware wa henikemu Did an age slip by during those fleeting moments when I dried my sleeves drenched by chrysanthemum dew on the path through the mountains? 1 1. Kokin Wakashu: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry, trans. Helen Craig McCullough (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985), no. 273, p. 68.