A RARE MITSUDA INLAID FOUR-CASE BLACK LACQUER INRO WITH A ROBED FIGURE ON HORSEBACK, ATTRIBUTED TO O

A RARE MITSUDA INLAID FOUR-CASE BLACK LACQUER INRO WITH A ROBED FIGURE ON HORSEBACK, ATTRIBUTED TO OGATA KORIN (1658-1716)
Unsigned
Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)
Of upright rectangular form and oval sectional, the four-case inro bearing a fine roiro ground and decorated in gold hiramaki-e, mitsuda (pewter), and aogai to depict a mounted robed figure against a foliate brocade pattern designed to simulate textile. The interior compartments of nashiji with gold fundame edges.
HEIGHT 8.5 cm, LENGTH 6.7 cm
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, light surface scratches and typical losses, particularly to the pewter-inlaid horse, some with gold-lacquered 'kintsugi' repairs.
Provenance:
Van Stockum Gallery, The Hague, April 7, 1959. Collection of Robert and Isabelle de Strycker, acquired from the above. An old collector's label to the interior, 'L,548' and '13'. Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) was a French engineer who specialized in metallurgy. He was a Stanford graduate, a professor at the University of Leuven, a director of the Institute of Metallurgy at the Universite Catholique de Louvain, and one of the most influential members of the faculty of applied sciences. After World War II, he made large contributions to France's post-war recovery. Robert and his wife Isabelle (1915-2010) first encountered Chinese art at the British Museum during a stay in London in the 1930s. Enamored with the style and beauty, they both decided to study and collect Chinese works of art. In 1938 they eventually began to build their collection, buying from Belgian, Parisian, and English dealers. They kept close contact with the famous English collector Sir Harry Garner (1891-1977) and noted Czech collector and expert Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976). In 1964, the couple lent 174 objects from their collection to the Belgian city of Leuven's museum for an exhibition titled Oude kunst in Leuvens Privebezit ('Old Art in Private Collections in Leuven'), and in 1967 they lent around thirty Japanese objects to the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels for their exhibition Kunst van Japan im belgischen Privatverzameingen ('Japanese Art in Belgian Private Collections').
Rinpa is a modern term that refers to a distinctive style of Japanese pictorial and applied arts that arose in the early seventeenth century and has continued through modern times. Literally meaning 'school of Korin,' Rinpa derives its name from Ogata Korin (1658-1716), a celebrated painter from Kyoto. It embraces art marked by a bold, graphic abbreviation of natural motifs, frequent reference to traditional court literature and poetry, the lavish use of expensive mineral and metallic pigments, incorporation of calligraphy into painting compositions, and innovative experimentation with new brush techniques. Transmitted by means of pattern books and manuals, the work of the Ogata Korin inspired numerous other craftsmen.
Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related four-case gold lacquer inro depicting two thatched shelters among bamboo, by Hara Yoyusai, with similarly rendered Rinpa style inlay in mitsuda and aogai, also taken from Korin Hyakuzu , at Bonhams, The Edward Wrangham Collection of Japanese Art, 15 May 2012, London, lot 290
(sold for GBP 22,500)
.