By Mochizuki Hanzan (Haritsu II,1743-1790), sealed HanzanJapan, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868)Published: Little, Stephen / Lewis, Edmund J. (2011) View of the Pinnacle: Japanese Lacquer Writing Boxes: The Lewis Collection of Suzuribako, Honolulu, cat. no. 52.Of rectangular form with shakudo fittings on the rounded corners and gold fundame edges, the wood ground covered with clear lacquer to heighten the grain and superbly decorated in gold and iro-e takamaki-e and e-nashiji as well as ceramic and mother-of-pearl inlays to the top of the cover with a gnarled peach tree bearing large fruit as well as buds and blossoms, beside a basin filled with pomegranates, grapes, and camellias, and to the interior of the cover with an archaic simulated-bronze lacquer vessel on a red lacquer stand next to leafy chrysanthemums. The interior of the box fitted with two removable trays, one holding an inkstone (suzuri) with gold fundame rim, an inscribed inkstick decorated with cranes and pine, and a rectangular copper water-dropper (suiteki) with a key-fret band and swirling clouds enclosing a circular seal paste pot with hinged cover, appearing like the full moon in a cloudy sky. The interior of the cover with an inlaid pink ceramic seal HANZAN.Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, minor crackling to interior edges, few light scratches, a small repair to one peach inlay.Provenance: Property from the Collection of Drs. Edmund and Julia Lewis (old collector’s label ‘Lewis Collection 54’) to base, purchased from Eskenazi Ltd., London, 20 December 1990.Mochizuki Hanzan, thought to have lived from 1743 to 1790, called himself Haritsu II and was a close follower of the style of Ogawa Haritsu (1663-1747) though he was neither his son nor his pupil. His works are sometimes sealed ‘Kan’ and it has become a challenge for scholars and collectors to distinguish some of these works from those of Ogawa Haritsu.Auction comparison: Compare a related lacquer suzuribako by Mochizuki Hanzan at Christie’s, Netsuke & Lacquer from the Japanese Department of Eskenazi, 17 November 1999, London, lot 11 (sold for 24,150 GBP) and another at Christie’s, Japanese Art and Design, 17 November 1999, London, lot 119 (sold for 19,550 GBP).