Lot 3572. An important and extremely rare yellow lacquer 'dragon' dish, Wanli incised and gilt yiwei cyclical date, corresponding to 1595 and of the period; 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 2,500,000 - HKD 3,500,000. Price Realised  HKD 2,660,000 (USD 343,523). © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.

Superbly carved to the interior through the gold-flecked brownish yellow outer layer to the red ground below with a large central medallion depicting a powerful ascending five-clawed dragon among flame and cloud scrolls, its scales finely detailed and eyes picked out in black, in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl' to its right, above turbulent waves breaking against jagged rocks emerging from the sea, all against undulating sea diaper and geometric sky diaper, the cavetto with four shaped panels enclosing a pair of lotus flowers supporting the Eight Buddhist Emblems separated by detached flower sprigs, the exterior with a dense flowering meander above a keyfret band encircling the foot, the mark incised on the red lacquer base in a horizontal line, Japanese wood box

Property from the Kaisendo museum, Yamagata, Japan

THE KAISENDO MUSEUM

The Kaisendo Museum lies in Kaminoyama city in Yamagata prefecture, Japan and houses a collection of Chinese and Japanese art that was formed by Mr Kenzo Hasegawa (1886-1957), the owner of a large manufacturer of raw silk in Kaminoyama. Initially he began by collecting Japanese swords prior to World War II but under the advice of his brother (Mr Shouichi Inoue) and his nephew (Mr Shouhei Inoue) his attention soon turned to carved lacquer. His brother was a renowned collector of Chinese and Japanese ceramics who had established a museum of his own and this was almost certainly the inspiration for Mr Hasegawa to prepare for his own museum by setting up the foundation in 1951.

The majority of the lacquer pieces in his collection were acquired between 1948 and 1950. Two very important figures in the formation of the collection were Mr Takushin Kushi, a scholar of Asian art and Mr Hirota Fukkosai (1897-1973), the founder of Kochukyo. Mr Fukkosai was one of the preeminent figures in the world of Chinese art of his time and his influence can clearly be seen in the collection in the wonderful and extensive selection of important examples of carved lacquers in the museum.

The main focus of the Museum's collection, therefore, lies in both Japanese sword fittings (which include some very important examples) and important carved lacquerware. Although the initial basis of the collection were the sword fittings, the lacquer also stands out as a world class collection in terms of the rarity and quality of the pieces that the collection encompasses. It is perhaps only because of the geographical remoteness of the museum that the pieces have not been more widely known to the outside world. A number of these, including most of the lots from the Kaisendo Collection offered in the current sale, have been included in important Japanese exhibitions of Chinese lacquer; otherwise the collection have stayed in relative obscurity to the outside world since the Foundation was established in 1951.

The collection houses a total of 124 Chinese and Japanese lacquers, all of which are displayed in the galleries of the museum, making this an impressive collection, even by international standards, and certainly one of the largest of its kind in Japan. 

Literature: Bijutsu Senshu Dai Hachi Kan, Cho Shitsu (Carved Lacquer), 1974, Fuji Art Publications, Japan, no. 42

Exhibited: Osaka Municipal Art Museum, Osaka, Japan, Ming and Qing Ceramics and Works of Art, 1980, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 53, no. 2:31

Note: The present dish belongs to an extremely rare group of dated Wanli period dishes predominantly decorated in brownish yellow lacquer. All known examples from this group display the very highest standards of workmanship of the period and for centuries have been held in extremely high regard among collectors of lacquer. Most extant examples of this group are either in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, or the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Three yellow lacquer pieces in the National Palace Museum Taipei were included in theSpecial Exhibition of Lacquer Wares in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, nos. 31-33. These include a rectangular tray with a pair of confronted dragons, a circular dish with a dragon and phoenix, and a round dragon dish bearing the same yiwei cyclical date, very similar in composition to the present example but with the dragon shown descending rather than ascending. A dish identical to the National Palace Museum example, in the Sir Harry and Lady Garner Collection, was included in the 1957 Oriental Ceramics Society Exhibition, Arts of the Ming Dynasty, and in the 1973 British Museum exhibition of Chinese and Associated Lacquer from the Garner Collection, London, illustrated in the Catalogue, pl. 32a, no. 73. A single red-ground yellow lacquer dish in the Beijing Palace Museum with the same yiwei cyclical date depicting a dragon and phoenix contesting a 'flaming pearl' is illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 211, no. 168. Yellow lacquer is also very highly prized in Japan and two examples of the same design as the present dish remain in private collections there. The first was in the Nabeshima Collection which was included in an exhibition of tea ceremony pieces at the 1989 Chado Shiyokan Museum, Kyoto, Cha no Yu no Shikki - Karamono. A second example was sold at the Osaka Bijutsu club in March 2010 for a world record price for Jiajing carved lacquer.