Two magatama, Japan, Kofun period (250-538). Estimate 2,000 — 3,000 GBP (2,713 - 4,070 EUR). Photo Sotheby's.

one of glass or jade-simulant, comma-shaped form, the other of jade, modelled as a crescent-shaped bead with a serrated edge, carved with lappets arranged in a semicircle, each pierced with an aperture at one end, Japanese wood boxes. Quantité: 4. The largest: 8cm., 3 1/8 in.

Provenance: One (left): Mayuyama & Co. Ltd., Tokyo.

Exhibition:One (left): Tokubetu tenkan toyo kodai galasu ten [Ancient glass from Orient], Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1978, cat. no. 594.

Three magatama, Japan, Kofun period (250-538). Estimate 2,000 — 3,000 GBP (2,713 - 4,070 EUR). Photo Sotheby's.

one of jade and the other two of glass or serpentine, each modelled as a comma-shaped bead and pierced with an aperture at one end, Japanese wood boxes. Quantité: 6. The largest: 10cm., 4in.

Provenance: One (bottom right): Mayuyama & Co. Ltd., Tokyo.

Bibliography: One (bottom right): Ryūsen Shūhō. Sōgyō shichijū shūnen kinen/Mayuyama: Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. 2, pl. 668.

Sotheby's. The Soul of Japanese Aesthetics – The Tsuneichi Inoue Collection, Londres, 13 mai 2015, 10:00 AM