A JAPANESE LACQUER INRŌ AND A TONKOTSU

A JAPANESE LACQUER INRŌ AND A TONKOTSU
MEIJI ERA, 19TH CENTURY

The three-case inrō decorated with a large bird of prey perched on a rock by crashing waves, a gnarly tree to the side, all rendered in gold and silver hiramaki-e and kirikane, attached to a wood netsuke carved as another large bird perched on a roof tile; the tonkotsu (tobacco box) with two metal turtles applied to the lacquer surface, the reverse with a flower spray in gold hiramaki-e, with an en-suite wood netsuke of a large turtle; a partial paper label inside for M W Edgley, the oriental art dealer based at 40 & 41 Fleet Street, London; the inrō 7.2cm and the tonkotsu 7.8cm. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Mrs Frederica (Freda) Cook (1856-1925), and thence by descent. In 1887, Freda married Wyndham Francis Cook, the younger son of Sir Francis Cook. Sir Francis (1817-1901) was a wealthy textile magnate who notably owned the Gothic palace on Montserrate in Cintra, Portugal (previously subleased by William Beckford), where he created a Japanese garden. He was given the title of Marquess of Montserrate by the King of Portugal in 1886, and first Baronet Cook the same year.

Sir Francis was an avid art collector, amassing one of the most important private art collections of the 19th century, housed primarily at Doughty House in Richmond. His collection featured pieces by renowned artist, including Jan van Eyck's The Three Marys at the Sepulchre, Velázquez's Old Woman Cooking Eggs, Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi's Adoration of the Magi, and Rembrandt's Portrait of a Boy. In 1900, he bought a painting that would eventually sell for $450 million at auction: the famous Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci.

When her husband died in 1905, Freda was left £1,224,381 (approximately £189 million today). Her own will made the news in 1925 when the Time published an article entitled "Will as Long as a Novel": it was handwritten, included 95,940 words, 1066 pages, and still holds today the Guinness World Records title for the longest will ever written.