LONDON.- On 6 November in London, Sotheby’s will hold a Japanese Art sale showcasing five centuries of Japanese artistry and craftsmanship, adding to the company’s history of important sales in the category. The auction will present a curated group of fine works of art from distinguished Asian, European and American private collections, including lacquer, ceramics, enamels, woodblock prints, armours and swords.

Henry Howard-Sneyd, Sotheby's Chairman of Asian Art, Europe and Americas, said: “It is very rewarding to bring Japanese art auctions back to Sotheby’s after an interlude of over 10 years. The obvious quality and dazzling variety of the art on display in this sale fabulously illustrates the richness of this extraordinary culture.”

Mark Hinton, Sotheby’s Senior Japanese Art Consultant, commented: “We are thrilled to present a tremendous array of material in our first Japanese Art sale in a decade, led by the spectacular, incredibly detailed imperial presentation lacquer screens which come to the market with distinguished provenance. The sale includes a wonderful collection of samurai art, a group of lacquer objects from the Drs. Edmund J. and Julie Lewis Collection, elegant Japanese porcelain with a particularly refined English country house taste, and a superb print by Sharaku, one of the masterpieces of his half-length portraits. We have carefully chosen material that appeals to today’s collectors, with a high level of quality and provenance in mind.”

A Magnificent Pair of Imperial Presentation Lacquer Two-Fold Screens Meiji Period, Late 19th Century
Signed Makie-Shi Yasui Hochu No In [Yasui Hochu (1857-1922)] and sealed Shibayama Estimate £500,000-700,000
The sweeping reforms in Meiji period society brought far reaching changes to the production and display of art. With the dissolution of the samurai class, traditional patterns of patronage gave way to new outlets. Metalworkers who had previously made sword fittings now turned their skill to making objects for no other purpose than aesthetic display. Art and craft began to be taught in colleges and art schools. World fairs such as the Vienna International Exposition of 1873 and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition attracted large numbers of visitors and stimulated markets for Japanese works of art. In 1870, the Department for Industry (Kobusho) was established to develop the arts for export, followed by the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1889. A new vogue for Western-style décor in the Victorian mode particularly seen in the domestic furnishings of the Imperial Household prompted Japanese artists and craftsmen to produce a new range of objects. Magnificent screens such as this pair were among this demand.

A Nanban Lacquer Shrine
Momoyama Period, 16th Century
Estimate £70,000-100,000
When Francis Xavier, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) arrived in Japan in 1549 to commence his missionary work of converting the Japanese to Christianity, he brought with him several Italian paintings of religious subjects of Christ, the Virgin Mary and various saints. These were originally intended to decorate the various churches which he hoped to construct, but as time went by he realised that there was an increasingly strong demand from local converts for copies of these religious images to assist them in their devotions. The demand for hanging lacquer shrines and portable lecterns soon exceeded supply, and the Jesuits commissioned further works from Rome

but, owing to the long time gap, in many cases several years, between the original request and its subsequent delivery in Japan they were obliged to commission local Japanese artists to produce copies of the paintings and at the same time to arrange for their hanging lacquer cases to be made by local artisans in Kyoto. As a consequence the majority of these oil paintings on copper or wooden panels show a European stylistic influence, whereas the lacquer cases are decorated with a mingling of European and Japanese Kano style. This shrine is one of very few pieces to have survived the Tokugawa Shogunate’s ban on Christianity in 1620, as every item of Christian significance was systematically rooted out and destroyed. Only about twenty of these shrines are currently known to have survived.

A Very Large Shoki Imari Dish
Edo Period, 1630-1640s
Estimate £150,000-180,000
Shoki Imari – early Imari ware – was first developed in the early 17th century, in the city of Arita located in the west of Kyushu Island, Japan. Its basic form, techniques and texture are similar to those of Korean porcelain as Korean technicians were the first to find porcelain materials in Arita and consequently started porcelain ware production in Japan. During this time a large quantity of blue and white porcelain from Jingdezhen, China was being imported. Jingdezhen pottery, recognisable by its thin and sharp forms, had been in demand from the Japanese upper class since the 16th century. Blue and white pottery decorated with a variety of vivid blue motifs was particularly popular, and Shoki Imari was distributed around Japan to compete with the abundance of imported Chinese porcelain. The subdued gohon (pinkish mottling) is a significant aspect of the elegant design of this early dish.

A Fine and Rare Kakiemon Vase
Edo Period, Late 17th Century
Estimate £60,000-80,000
This is one of the grandest designs in Kakiemon and was much coveted in European collections. The shape is Chinese and the panel design shows two Chinese figures, one holding a Chinese-style fan, the other a domed parasol. The inspiration for the composition of plum, chrysanthemum and bamboo with oversized bird and blossoms comes from the Chinese enamels of the late Kangxi period (1662-1722), and the figure types can be found on 17th-century Chinese blue and white export wares.

Toshusai Sharaku (Active 1794-1795)
Portrait of the Actor Segawa Kikunojo III as Oshizu, from the Play Hana-Ayame Bunroku Soga woodblock print, signed Toshusai Sharaku ga, published by Tsutaya Juzaburo, 5th month, 1794
Estimate £180,000-250,000
This print is a masterpiece to be numbered among the best of Sharaku’s halflength portraits of onnagata (male actors who played women’s roles in Japanese Kabuki theatre), admirably capturing the grace and femininity that Kikunojo expressed in his performances. Segawa Kikunojo III (1751-1810) was the most popular player of female roles of his day, and the play Hana-ayame Bunroku Soga, in which he performed, was staged at the Miyako theatre in May 1794.

An Imperial Presentation Suzuribako [Writing Box]
Meiji Period, Early 20th Century
Estimate £80,000-100,000
This large, square box with overhanging cover is decorated in gold hiramaki-e on a nashiji ground, designed on the exterior and interior with large, imperial sixteen-petal chrysanthemum medallions in low relief, interspersed with medallions outlined in gold lacquer and silhouetted on the nashiji ground. Fitted in the lower section of the box is a silver-mounted implement tray which holds a brush and an ink cake holder, and on the left in fitted slots, a paper knife and paper-pricker. The wood storage box is inscribed on the cover to reveal that it was presented by the Emperor Meiji to Count Hisamoto Hijikata, a classic Meiji-period loyalist who had always supported the imperial family, on January 4, 1911.

A Nimai-Dō Gusoku [Armour]
Edo Period, 18th - 19th Century
Estimate £70,000-90,000

A Very Fine Hon-Kozane Tachi-Do Gusoku [Armour]
Edo Period, 17th Century
Estimate £60,000-80,000
This striking armour of the Tanuma clan has an elegant kawari kabuto (eccentric helmet) depicting a Chinese court hat.

Ogawa Haritsu (Ritsuo) (1663-1747)
A Pair of Rare Wood Sculptures of Nio
Edo Period, Late 17th - Early 18th Century, each sealed Ritsuo
Estimate £80,000-100,000
In 1888 these sculptures were in the collection of English collector Dr. Ernest Hart who wrote in Siegfried Bing's Le Japon Artistique that they were identified as being by Ritsuo. When offered for sale in Paris in 1904, the seals had become obscured and were dated as Kamakura period. Recently the obscured seals were discovered, revealing their true attribution after over 100 years as having been made by one of the most dynamic artists of the Edo period. The two figures, one open-mouthed and the other with mouth-closed, symbolise the first and last syllables of the Sanskrit alphabet, Ah and Un (Hum). Together, they form the opening and closing of the universe, the mantra of all existence: Om.