KOMA KORYU: A FINE FOUR-CASE LACQUER INRO WITH DOVES AT A SHINTO SHRINE

By Koma Koryu, signed Koma Koryu 古満 巨柳 saku 作 and kakihan
Japan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)

Published: Mizutani Hidejiro, Mizutani korekushon, inro no kenkyu, Kyoto, Shohakusha, 1988, no. 52.

Of tall cylindrical form, finely decorated in gold, silver, and iro-e takamaki-e, enriched with aogai and chiseled gold inlays, all set against a subtly textured black lacquer ground. One side depicts a dove perched on a bird-feeder suspended from the eaves of a Shinto shrine at New Year, the season suggested by the blossoming plum tree nearby. The reverse shows a pair of doves in flight, the upper bird exquisitely inlaid in incised and polished gold of exceptional quality. The interior cases are finished in nashiji with rims of gold fundame. Signed to the underside KOMA KORYU saku [made by Koma Koryu] with a kakihan.

With a silvered-metal ojime in form of a ribbed gourd.

HEIGHT 9.6 cm, LENGTH 4.3 cm

Provenance: Ex-collection Mizutani Hidejiro, Kyoto. Bonhams, Fine Japanese Works of Art, 16 September 2009, New York, lot 3028 (sold for USD 4,880 or approx. EUR 8,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). From the private collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, New York, acquired from the above. Mizutani Hidejiro is a Japanese collector and dealer specializing in inro and related sagemono. He assembled what is referred to as the ‘Mizutani Collection’, published in Mizutani Hidejiro, Mizutani korekushon, inro no kenkyu, Kyoto, Shohakusha, in 1988. 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.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, tiny losses to the aogai inlays, minuscule nibbling along the rims.

The Koma were among the most celebrated dynasties of Japanese lacquer artists, founded in Edo during the 17th century by Kyui, who is recorded as having produced inro for Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. For more than two centuries, successive generations of the family served as official lacquerers to the court and shogunate, their artistry setting the highest standards of the craft. Virtually all members of the lineage are thought to have created inro, alongside other lacquer objects. Among them, Koma Koryu stands out as one of the most distinguished masters, renowned for his versatility across techniques and media, and frequently collaborating with leading metalworkers to produce works of remarkable refinement - such as the present inro.

Auction comparison:
Compare a related five-case lacquer inro with mixed-metal inlays, depicting the twelve zodiac signs, signed Koma Koryu saku, at Christie’s, Japanese & Korean Art, 14 September 2011, New York, lot 513 (sold for USD 6,875 or approx. EUR 8,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).