KAJIKAWA LINEAGE
A black and gold lacquer writing box
Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century
A suzuribako with square corners and inrōbuta (flush-fitting) lid, the interior with a nine-section ita (board) with two raised sections above and below the suzuri (ink stone), the upper board cut with a recess for the suiteki (water dropper), the exterior with two mischievous karako (Chinese boys) drawing with brushes on their larger sleeping companion, their school book abandoned beside them, the reverse of the lid with four more karako with their usual toys—drums, trumpet, and takeuma (hobby horse)—and a fifth standing by a tsuitate screen painted with a Chinese-style landscape bearing the signature and seal of the Kano painter Isen'in (Naganobu, 1775-1828); the wood substrate covered in black roiro lacquer, the decoration executed in gold, silver, and colored takamaki-e and hiramaki-e, on the lid within a cartouche bordered with gold Gyōbu nashiji, on the interior against a rich gold hirame ground; the lozenge-shaped suiteki copper, silver, and gilt; signed inside the box underneath the suzuri Kajikawa with red seal Ei; with a lacquered wood storage box
8 1/4 x 9 x 1 3/4 in (20.9 x 22.8 x 4.4cm)
Footnotes:
Provenance
Christie's, New York, September 18, 2013, lot 680