Description A RARE LACQUERED OSTRICH EGG DEPICTING A PROCESSION OF FROGS
Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912)
Set on a lacquered hardwood base with six finely carved ivory monkeys holding up an ostrich egg. The egg is lacquered gold, red and silver takamaki-e with an amusing and rare depiction of a frog procession carrying a small frog-daimyo inside a lotus leaf shaped palanquin, below the cloudy silver moon. Various flowers are show on the ground, as well as towering leafy stalks of bamboo, and geese flying geese are scattered throughout the sky. The motif is inspired by the Choju-jinbutsu-giga scrolls from the 12th-13thcentury.
HEIGHT total 23.5 cm
Condition: Very good condition, minor surface scratches to the egg and age cracks and surface wear to the ivory monkeys.
Provenance: British collection.