Lot 87: A lacquer rectangular tray By Tani Buncho (1763-1840) and Ota Nanpo (circa 1748-1823), circa 1822

By Tani Buncho (1763-1840) and Ota Nanpo (circa 1748-1823), circa 1822
Of deep form, the roiro interior painted in gold togidashi with a large katsuo (bonito) lying over a sprig of sasa (grasses), with a kyoka poem inscribed above by Shokusanjin, extolling the culinary delights of katsuo and other seasonal dishes, signed Buncho with seal; the poem signed nanaju-yon o Shokusanjin with seal Shokusan; the sides of plain red lacquer; wood storage box. 6cm x 32.1cm x 24.5cm (2 3/8in x 12 9/16in x 9 5/8in). (2).

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Ota Nanpo (circa 1748-1823), otherwise known by his humorous pen-name Yomono Akara ('descended from the lower-class warrior') was a popular author, intellectual and poet during the mid to late Edo period. He enjoyed a close relationship and freely interacted with Tani Buncho, Sakai Hoitsu and Kameda Hosai, who were also his peers and reputable intellectuals of the period. This lacquer tray presented here is an example of the collaboration of painting and literature, thus resulting in the creation of a new culture. Today he is widely acknowledged by scholars to have been an aesthetically important figure in the development of the multi-faceted world of Edo culture. Shokusanjin was a go used by Ota Nanpo when he was composing kyoka poetry.