A JAPANESE LACQUER TANZAKU-BAKO (POEM-SLIP BOX)

A JAPANESE LACQUER TANZAKU-BAKO (POEM-SLIP BOX)
EDO/MEIJI, 19TH CENTURY

The slender box and cover decorated in gold hiramaki-e and nashiji on a black roiro ground, the lid embellished with rafts drifting down a river, bearing branches of willow, yamabuki (wild roses) and bush clover; together with a rectangular tortoiseshell tray decorated in iroe hiramaki-e with five sparrows flying over a screen suspending a red tassel; 38.2cm x 7.8cm max. (3)

Provenance: the Tomkinson Family Collection; the box purchased from Christie's London, 16th June 1999, lot 173; the tray from Christie's London, 19 June 1997, lot 601 (part), formerly in the collection of James Orange, Hong Kong. Copies of the original invoices are available.

James Orange lived in Hong Kong at the turn of the century, visiting Japan frequently and assembling an impressive lacquer collection. Many of his pieces were bequeathed to the British Museum in 1928.