MYOCHIN MUNENORI: A VERY RARE AND MASSIVE SILVER AND GOLD-INLAID IRON KORO (INCENSE BURNER)
Lot 48 - JPN0625

By Myochin Munenori, signed Myochin ki Munenori
Japan, late 18^th to early 19^th century, Edo period (1615-1868)

Exquisitely hammered, the tapering rectangular censer supported on four cabriole legs emerging from dragon-head terminals, flanked by C-form mythical-beast keyfret handles suspending loose rings, superbly worked in uchidashi and decorated in gold and silver takazogan and hirazogan, to depict Fudo Myoo, the powerful King of Immutable Wisdom and Vanquisher of Evil, holding the kurikara (devil-subduing) sword and a lasso to catch and bind up the wicked, accompanied by his acolytes Kongara and Seitaka, surrounded by the halo of flames that destroys ignorance; the reverse panel decorated with a shishi menacingly crouching on the edge of a cliff, the face with a fierce expression, the eyes finished in gilt, and claws and fangs in silver. Each of the opposing short panel with a long-tailed bird in flight holding a knotted cord in its beak and a fluttering butterfly above a large chrysanthemum flower.

With a partially reticulated cover decorated with pierced geometric design, between bands of foliate and geometric scrolls, terminating in a flaring knop with an overhanging lip with a lobed design. The underside of the lid with a cut-out design of a sparrow. The interior with a removable metal lining to protect the koro from the burned incense.

Inscriptions: Signed to the Fudo Myoo panel, ‘Myochin ki Munenori’.

SIZE 39 x 32 x 26 cm
WEIGHT 7,286 g

Condition: Very good condition with old wear and light traces of use. Two feet with old repairs and associated minor touchups.
Provenance: Woolley & Wallis, Asian Art II, 18 May 2016, Salisbury, lot 810 (sold for GBP 28,864 or approx. EUR 51,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Woolley & Wallis, Japanese Works of Art, 23 November 2021, Salisbury, lot 1039 (sold for GBP 26,240 or approx. EUR 38,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). The collection of Hugo Burge, acquired from the above. Hugo Burge (1972-2023) was an internet entrepreneur, collector, philanthropist, and the founder of Marchmont Ventures, an organization that supports arts and crafts. He displayed to great effect in his homes at Marchmont House in the Scottish Borders and in London.

Myochin Munenori is recorded as being a retainer of the Tsuchiya clan working in the province of Hitachi during the late 18^th-early 19^th century.

The Myochin family was the most successful of the numerous dynasties of professional armorers that originated in late-medieval Japan. In the Edo period (1615-1868) the family opened branches not just in the major cities but also in the chief towns of many provincial fiefs where they turned out vast quantities of cuirasses, helmets, face masks, and other components that were needed for samurai armor. Myochin craftsmen were highly accomplished in using tiny rivets to join multiple iron plates, creating protection that was both relatively light and highly flexible; over time, they repurposed their skills to make ingenious and astonishingly lifelike articulated models of snakes, fishes, crustaceans, and insects. They also made other objects for everyday or ceremonial use, like the present incense burner, which is to be considered exceedingly rare.

Auction comparison:
Compare a related yet significantly smaller iron tripod incense burner, by Myochin Muneyoshi, 19th century, 10.5 cm wide, at Christie’s, The Meiji Aesthetic: Selected Masterpieces from a Private Asian Collection, 27 November 2018, Hong Kong, lot 3830 (sold for HKD 250,000 or approx. EUR 32,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Compare a related Myochin school uchidashi tosei gusoku armor decorated with a shishi to the do, 18^th-19^th century, at Christie’s, Arts of the Samurai and Japanese Art & Design, 7 June 2000, London, lot 38 (sold for GBP 42,300 or approx. EUR 116,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).