A fine and unusual small pair of inlaid four-sided wood vases


Attributed to Tsukahara Katao, Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th centuryEach vase supported on four scrolled bracket feet and lavishly decorated in high-relief inlay of silver, shibuichi, gold and shakudo with four complementary scenes (two on each vase) within a sunken panel on the front and reverse, one vase depicting (1) The poetess Ono no Komachi washing a book with water to prove that verses have been fraudulently added to the text (2) A solitary butterfly hovering over a stalk of peony on the reverse, the second vase showing (3) Otomo no Kuronushi, a high-ranking courtier and poet, seated and falsely accusing Ono no Komachi of plagiarism (4) Chrysanthemums growing from behind a rock on the reverse, one side of each vase inset with two smaller differently shaped panels enclosing clouds and wild chrysanthemums on one vase and clouds and susuki (pampas grass) and ominaeshi (valerian) on the other; each vase signed on the opposite side with carved signature Katao above a square gold seal Katao. Each vase 14.5cm (5¾in) high. (2).
|The signature and overall quality of this work are consistent with that of Tsukahara Katao who is recorded as a Shoami-school artist living in Tokyo and working in the late 19th century, see Wakayama Takeshi, Kinko Jiten (A Dictionary of Metalworkers), Tokyo, Token Shunju Shinbunsha, 1999, p.309.