Charger

Location: Japan, Kyoto

Materials: iron, worked in gold, silver, copper, shakudo, shibuichi takazogan, and nunomezogan

Dimensions: 48.2 cm (Diameter)

Accession Number: M 16

Other Notes:

An inlaid iron charger with a central panel bearing an interior scene possibly depicting the legend of Tonbo Choja (The Rich Man and the Dragonfly). A boy to one side attempting to catch a dragonfly, a man in a richly patterned kimono, smoking a pipe, hunched on the other side. In the background a peasant woman holds a kettle and tray beside a wood rice-container and mallet. An open doorway behind her reveals a rural landscape, all worked in gold, silver, copper, shakudo, and shibuichi takazogan and gold nunomezogan. The border with numerous geometric bands and twelve roundels of a feather cloak, two ceremonial balls, Choryo riding through the waves, birds flying beneath wisteria, a ho-o, a single ceremonial ball, a view of Kiyomizudera, birds beneath flowering grasses, Shoki chasing an oni, numerous butterflies, a bridge spanning a river, and a lantern beside a bamboo fence all worked in kinsujizogan. The outer rim decorated with fruiting vines.

Bibliography:

O. Impey, M. Fairley (eds.), Meiji No Takara: Treasures Of Imperial Japan: Metalwork Vol I, London 1995, cat. 14.
J. Earle, Splendors of Imperial Japan: Arts of the Meiji period from the Khalili Collection, London 2002, cat. 30, pp. 72–3.