Lot description

SILVER WORKS OF ART
Various Properties

An inlaid silver koro (incense burner) and cover

By Sato Kazuhide (1855-1925), Meiji Period
Of squat globular form and supported on three oni-feet, finely decorated in silver, shakuko, copper, gilt and shibuichi takazogan with a farmyard scene of cockerels, hens and chicks foraging for and finding insects and worms among chrysanthemum shrubs, the reticulated cover carved and gilded with a mass of chrysanthemum blossoms and foliage, surmounted by a finial in the form of a silver, shakudo and gilt cockerel, the neck inlaid in gold honzogan with a band of key-fret pattern, the shoulder applied in silver with a formalized kiri (paulownia) on either side, the base signed with chiselled characters Kazuhide koku with gold seal Kazuhide. 15.2cm (6in) high. (2).

Footnotes

鶏図彫金貼付銀製香炉　佐藤一秀作　明治時代


Sato Kazuhide (Isshu) was born in Tokyo and at the age of 11 was apprenticed to Iwamoto Ikkan (the seventh master of the Iwamoto family). Upon Ikkan’s death he joined Ozaki Kazuyoshi (pupil of Ishiguro Masayoshi), remaining there for eight years before becoming independent in 1876. He learnt drawing from Takashima Chitose. He produced works for the Imperial Household (1) and exhibited at International Exhibitions, including the Exposition of Paris in 1900.

An identical koro by Katsuhide with its cover lacking the inlaid cockerel finial is illustrated by Oliver Impey and Malcolm Fairley (eds.), The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art: Meiji no Takara, Treasures of Imperial Japan, London, 1995, Metalwork part I, no.9. Two other koro, of almost identical appearance but by Shoami Katsuyoshi, are illustrated by Asahara Ken, Shoami Katsuyoshi no kenkyu (A Study of the Work of Shoami Katsuyoshi), Tokyo, 1987, pp.263 and 313, whilst a further identical kogo by Katsuyoshi is also illustrated by ibid., p.266 and is dated 1901.

Notes:

1. Oliver Impey and Malcolm Fairley, The Dragon King of the Sea, Japanese Decorative Art of the Meiji Period from the John R. Young Collection, Oxford, 1991, p.38, no.14.

Quoted from the lot page, © Bonhams. Bonhams, Fine Japanese Art, 2014-05-15, lot 565 ↗