By Shiomi Masanari (1647-1722), signed Shiomi Masanari 鹽見 政誠
Japan, 18^th century, Edo period (1615-1868)

Of upright rectangular form, superbly decorated in gold and red togidashi-e, with delicate e-nashiji, against a lustrous roiro ground. The design features a small bird perched on a stack of hay, gazing up at a cherry tree in full bloom. The hay and the elegantly rendered cherry tree extend seamlessly onto the other side. Signed to the bottom case within the typical, red-lacquered cartouche SHIOMI MASANARI. The interior of nashiji and the risers decorated with gold lacquered cherry blossoms.

With a coral ojime as well as a wood manju netsuke with gold and silver takamaki-e grasses highlighted with kirigane flakes, signed SHUSAI.

LENGTH 7.3 cm, HEIGHT 9 cm

Condition: Very good condition with only minor wear and light rubbing to the ground. The netsuke with some typical losses to kirigane.
Provenance: Ex-collection of Fritz & Lucy Jewett, San Francisco, California. Lucille ‘Lucy’ McIntyre Jewett (1929-2023) and her husband George Frederick ‘Fritz’ Jewett (1927-2008), a timber industry scion and executive, were well-known philanthropists and dedicated patrons of art. After Fritz’s retirement from the Potlatch Corporation, he became Chairwoman of the Board of the Asian Art Commission in 1967 and helped to establish San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum. The Jewetts were known not only for their lavish San Francisco home in Pacific Heights where they invited politicians and dignitaries from around the world, including George H.W. and English royal consort Prince Philip, but also for their support of the San Francisco Ballet, and their involvement in the sailing world. The couple travelled extensively and collected wide range of art, initially Asian art before branching out into Impressionists and regional artists. Their vast collection included blue and white Chinese porcelains, Chinese Export porcelains, netsuke, lacquer wares, and silverware among many other treasures.

Shiomi Masanari (1647-1722) was a talented painter of the Kano school, however he is better known for his lacquerwork and the important family of lacquerers that he founded. Whether or not he was a pupil of Yamamoto Shunsho (1610-1682) as is widely believed, the Shiomi family also specialized in togidashi-e ('brought out by rubbing') lacquer of extremely high quality, as is exhibited in the present piece.

Museum comparison:
Compare a related togidashi-e inro with Autumn Flowers, by the same artist Shiomi Masanari, dated to the early 18th century, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession number 13.67.99.

Auction comparison:
Compare a related seven-case togidashi-e inro with cranes flying over cherry, maple and pine trees, by the same artist Shiomi Masanari, dated to the 19th century, at Bonhams, The Edward Wrangham Collection of Japanese Art, 9 November 2010, London, lot 292 (sold for GBP 13,200).