Sotheby's Hong Kong to Offer an Extraordinary Tang Dynasty Tortoiseshell and Mother-of-Pearl Box |
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| Written by rubin |
| Monday, 23 March 2009 12:26 |
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Mr. Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, commented “This magnificent box represents one of the most precious and certainly rarest Tang dynasty artefacts that have ever come on the market. There is no other institution in the world that holds Tang dynasty heirloom pieces apart from the Shosoin in Nara and the present box deserves a place in one of the world’s greatest museums or private collections.” The tortoiseshell box is an object of the utmost luxury, of outstanding craftsmanship and elegance which embodies the mature style of the ‘High Tang’ period of the mid-8th century. It is a testimony to the exquisite taste and a reflection of the pleasures of imperial life at one of the most glorious moments in Chinese history, when the Tang (AD 618-907) was at the height of their power and in the centre of the international spotlight. This is one of the only three almost identical tortoise-shell boxes inlaid with mother-of-pearl and amber, all probably originally preserved in the Shosoin. Of the other two, one still remains in the Shosoin, the other is preserved in the Museum Yamato Bunkakan, also in Nara. No other extremely large tortoiseshell item appears otherwise to be extant from the Tang dynasty. The box remaining in the Todaiji repository is one of Shosoin’s most celebrated treasures and has frequently been published and exhibited. The materials used in the manufacture of this box were among the most precious of the day. Tortoiseshell, from the hawksbill turtle, was an extremely rare substance, rarely fashioned into larger receptacles. The striking, complex mother-of-pearl inlay work is known only from a few other equally extraordinary and rare art objects preserved in the Shosoin. Provenance of the Magnificent Large Tortoiseshell Octagonal Box and Cover Inlaid with Mother-of-pearl The box was reputedly in the collection of Sanji Muto (武藤山治:1867-1934), a businessman and statesman born in Ehime. After graduating from the Keio Gijuku in 1884, he went to the United States in the following year. Returning to Japan in 1887, he then founded Japan's first newspaper advertisement agency in Ginza. After experiencing a number of different occupations, including journalism, Muto joined the Mitsui Bank at the invitation of Hikojiro Nakamigawa to help in the Mitsui Financial Reform of 1893. The following year, he moved to the Kanegafuchi Spinning Company and became its president in 1921. Muto was also active as a Diet member from 1924 and resigned as president of Kanebo in 1930. After leaving the political world in 1932, he became the president of Jiji Shinpo Sha, a newspaper company. While denouncing the corruption of the government and financial circles that were disclosed in the Teijin Incident, he was shot to death. Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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