A LARGE JAPANESE BLUE AND WHITE HANDWARMER

A LARGE JAPANESE BLUE AND WHITE HIBACHI (HANDWARMER)
PROBABLY MEIJI, 19TH/20TH CENTURY

Painted with a continuous design of many figures accompanied by calligraphic inscriptions, some identifying them as famous poets and artists; one line reading as Toba Sōjō Anzu (Illustration of the Hermitage of Toba Sōjō); signed underneath Ikka sha-shi (Painted/copied by Ikka), 46cm.

Toba Sōjō (1053-1140) was a high-ranking Buddhist monk and artist famously credited with creating the 'Scrolls of Frolicking Animals'.