JAPAN, CIRCA 1900 - Lot 8

JAPAN, CIRCA 1900 Lot of Satsuma stoneware with gold decoration on a crackled ground comprising : - a small tripod pot, decorated with a minogame turtle, two cranes near the sun, pine trees, prunus flowers and bamboo leaves. Signed below. H. 5.4 cm (Lid missing) - a small tripod covered pot forming a basket with openwork geometric mesh, the handle of which features a fabric knot wrapping it in the furoshiki style, with painted figures on the sides. The openwork lid has a stylized chrysanthemum handle. Shimizu clan mon and Shuzan mark on the base. Total height: 9 cm - a covered box with Mon of the Shimizu clan and Shuzan mark on the base. Embellished with characters and geometric frieze on the outside, the inside decorated with three other characters. D. 9.7 cm Containing a second covered box decorated with women and flowers inside, with mark on the base. D. 7.8 cm Provenance Presumed private collection of Monsieur Auguste Gérard (1852-1922), French ambassador to China (1893-1897) and Japan (1907-1913). Then by descent to the present owner. The basket is mentioned as "Boîte à grillons en faïence Satsuma XVIII° siècle" in the family inventory drawn up in November 1976 under number 174 page 10. An anonymized copy of the page concerning this lot may be issued to the buyer. The "basket" mentioned as such in the twentieth line p.1 of the inventory of objects entrusted by Mr. Auguste Gérard, French Ambassador to Tokyo, to Mr. Paul du Toict, Bould. du Régent 25 in Brussels in 1906. An anonymized copy of the pages of these two inventories concerning the basket can be delivered to the buyer. Note Viscount Paul du Toict (1847-1909) was a member of the administrative committee of the Société Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, which organized art exhibitions. He was also former president of the Belgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.