Description † A LARGE AND RARE STAG ANTLER YATATE (PORTABLE WRITING SET) WITH TSUKUMOGAMI SUMITSUBOUnsignedJapan, Tokyo, Asakusa district, late 19th centuryThe yatate comprising a large fudezutsu (brush holder) and a container for ink (sumitsubo) or perhaps incense. The fudezutsu shaped as several pots for the tea ceremony, with one large and five smaller hinged compartments, cleverly utilizing the natural form of the material, one compartment carrying a small knife (kogatana). The sumitsubo in the form of a pot transformed into a two-legged mythical beast (tsukumogami) with inlaid eyes and openworked handle, and with two hinged compartments, the smaller one integrating a third compartment behind the lid.LENGTH 25.5 cm (the fudezutsu), LENGTH 8.8 cm (the ink container)Condition: Very good condition, minor wear, light surface scratches, few minuscule nibbles to exposed areas.Provenance: British collection.Literature comparison:Compare a closely related stag antler yatate set, late 19th century, illustrated in Moss, Sydney L. (2016) Kokusai The Genius: and Stag-antler Carving in Japan, vol. III, p. 308-309, no. 521.Tsukumogami are animate household objects. After a service life of nearly one hundred years, utsuwamono or kibutsu (containers, tools, and instruments) receive souls (kami).