A Red-Lacquer, Sheet Lead and Shell Kikyoku (Cabinet for the Sencha Tea Ceremony)By Yoshida Jun'ichiro (1898-1969), Showa era (1926-1989), 1941
Constructed probably from hinoki (Japanese cypress) in a variant of the typical shodana cabinet form, comprising a cupboard with fully detachable door to the right and a slightly narrower open section to the left, the cupboard with a tray supported on two rails, the open section with a drawer below; the exterior covered in dark red lacquer with the texture of the reinforcing fabric deliberately left visible, the door, the drawer front and the base of the open section finished in brighter red lacquer; the pictorial decoration confined to the door and drawer front, the door with a bold design of hollyhocks executed in gold hiramaki-e, thick shell and thick lead, the drawer front with grasses in gold and silver hiramaki-e, the perimeter of the door with formal floral motifs in shell; the sides of the tray with similar motifs in maki-e, the interior and base polished black roiro lacquer; the door and drawer front each with a chrysanthemum-shaped silver and gilt openwork pull; signed in silver hiramaki-e on the reverse of the door Jun'ichiro saku (Made by Jun'ichiro); with a wood tomobako box, a contemporary exhibition checklist and an exhibition leaflet with brief texts by the artist and two other writers (dated 1941), the checklist and leaflet in an envelope addressed to Uchida Sokan, a lacquerer resident in Kashiwazaki City (see below); the lid of the tomobako inscribed on the outside Kikyoku tachiaoimon (Cabinet for the Sencha Tea Ceremony with Hollyhock Design), signed inside Jun'ichiro kore o seisu (Jun'ichiro made this) and sealed. 46.2cm x 62cm x 27.3cm (18¼in x 24½in x 10¾in). (4).注脚Exhibited and Published:
Maki-e to urushi-e no tenrankai (Exhibition of lacquerware and lacquer painting), Shindoya, Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture, June 28, 1942, with exhibition leaflet in which the present lot, Tachiaoimon kikyokutana (Set of kikyoku shelves with hollyhock design), is first on the list.

The maker of this handsome and well-preserved set of shelves for the Chinese-style sencha (steeped leaf tea) ceremony, made in the middle of the war years, was Yoshida Jun'ichiro, a lacquerer from Niigata Prefecture who studied in Tokyo under a number of masters including Uematsu Hobi (1872-1933), an artist whose work is frequently offered in these Rooms (for a recent example see Fine Japanese Art, 16 May 2019, lot 52); see also lot 74 in the present catalogue. Yoshida's formal exhibition career began in 1924 with the special exhibition dedicated to Shotoku Taishi and he continued to show his work at the Teiten, Bunten, Nitten and other official events until 1957.