Hara Yōyūsai 原羊遊斎
Inro with Moonflower Vine, early–mid 19th century
Size 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. (8.5 x 5.2 cm)
T-4047
Further images
Four-case inrō (interlocking medicine case) of oval section with internal cord-runners, decorated in gold and aokin hiramaki-e and takamaki-e, lead and shell inlay, and silver togidashi maki-e on a polished...
Four-case inrō (interlocking medicine case) of oval section with internal cord-runners, decorated in gold and aokin hiramaki-e and takamaki-e, lead and shell inlay, and silver togidashi maki-e on a polished black-lacquer background embellished with clouds of gold nashiji, depicting the stem, leaves, fruit, and bud of a yūgao (moonflower vine), one side with the moon; the compartments and risers gold nashiji; the shoulders and rims gold fundame
Signed on the base with gold hiramaki-e characters Yōyūsai 羊遊斎 with a kaō (artist’s monogram); inscribed on the front at lower left Hōitsu hitsu 抱一筆 (Brush of Hōitsu) with seal
For a comparable depiction of a moonflower vine by Hōitsu, an artist whose designs were often adopted by the lacquerer Hara Yōyūsai, see Matthew McKelway, Silver Wind: The Arts of Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1828), New York: Japan Society, 2012, cat. no. 46.6; for other examples of inrō by Yōyūsai after designs by Hōitsu, see ibid., cat. nos. 23, 24.
Signed on the base with gold hiramaki-e characters Yōyūsai 羊遊斎 with a kaō (artist’s monogram); inscribed on the front at lower left Hōitsu hitsu 抱一筆 (Brush of Hōitsu) with seal
For a comparable depiction of a moonflower vine by Hōitsu, an artist whose designs were often adopted by the lacquerer Hara Yōyūsai, see Matthew McKelway, Silver Wind: The Arts of Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1828), New York: Japan Society, 2012, cat. no. 46.6; for other examples of inrō by Yōyūsai after designs by Hōitsu, see ibid., cat. nos. 23, 24.
Exhibitions
WAS 2019
TEFAF 2016