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Sumo Writing Box, ca 1990

Creator: Unryuan
Offered by: Thomsen Gallery

Description
Unryuan (Kitamura Tatsuo)
Sumo Writing Box, ca 1990
Maki-e gold lacquer on wood
Size 1½ x 6¾ x 6 in. (3.6 x 16.9 x 15 cm)
T-2451
Suzuribako writing box in togidashi gold and colored lacquer, depicting an Edo period sumo match. The interior depicts a referee and his gunbai referee fan. The inkstone is carved in the shape of a heart, and the water dropper is made in gilt-silver in the form of two ayu, a fiercely territorial and combative fish species.

Signed inside the cover Unryuan

Exhibited: Nomura Art Museum, Kyoto, 1996; and Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2002
Illustrated in: Master of Traditional Japanese Lacquer - Selected Works, V&A Museum, London 2002, exh. cat, p. 23

Unryuan was born in Wajima-city, Ishikawa Prefecture, an area famous for its lacquer ware. At an early age he began a long apprenticeship to a local lacquer artist and learned a solid foundation in the various techniques used in traditional lacquer production. As he matured, he developed an even greater devotion to the classical styles and techniques in lacquer ware.
Today he is considered one of the greatest living lacquer artists and his work is found in some of the most important Museums and private collections worldwide.

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Period:	1980-1999
Condition:	Good.
Styles / Movements:	Modern, Asian
Incollect Reference #:	731215

Dimensions

W.	6.75 in;	H.	1.5 in;	D.	6 in;
W.	17.15 cm;	H.	3.81 cm;	D.	15.24 cm;

Message from Seller:

Thomsen gallery, located in a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, offers important Japanese paintings and works of art to collectors and museums worldwide. The gallery specializes in Japanese screens and scrolls; in early Japanese tea ceramics from the medieval through the Edo periods; in masterpieces of ikebana bamboo baskets; and in gold lacquer objects.