TOU: A FUCHI AND KASHIRA WITH THREE FRIENDS OF WINTERBy Tsuchiya Yasuchika V (1787-1852), signed Tou東雨Japan, late 18th to early 19th centuryEach made of shibuichi and finely inlaid with gilt, copper and silver takazogan depicting the three friends of winter, plum, pine and bamboo. The fuchi signed with TOU.LENGTH 3.9 cmWEIGHT 32.7 gCondition: Very good condition with minor surface wear, such as nicks and dents, and remnants of black lacquer on the fuchi.Provenance: Ex-collection Doctor Karl Florenz (1865-1939). Born in Erfurt, Karl Adolf Florenz was the founder of German Japanese studies and a translator of important Japanese classics. He became known for his work on Japanese history of literature. Florenz lived in Japan from 1888 until the outbreak of World War I. In 1889 he became a lecturer in German language and literature at the Imperial University of Tokyo, and in 1891 a full professor of German literature and comparative linguistics. In 1899, he became the first foreigner to be awarded the highest Japanese scholarly degree (Bungaku-Hakushi) for his translation of the Nihon shoki.