A LARGE RIMPA STYLE LACQUERED AND INLAID PAULOWNIA... Lot n° 1

A LARGE RIMPA STYLE LACQUERED AND INLAID PAULOWNIA WOOD HIBACHI (BRAZIER) WITH LUNAR HARES Japan, second half of 19th century, late Edo period (1615-1868) to early Meiji period (1868-1912) The wood ground finely decorated in gold and colored takamaki-e with aogai inlays to depict two moon rabbits in a densely grown field with flowers, leaves, and grasses, under a pewter-lacquered moon. The hollowed interior with a copper liner. DIAMETER 62 cm Condition: Good condition with some wear and traces of use, minor nicks, light scratches, minor losses to lacquer and inlays. The copper liner with some malachite encrustations. Provenance: Dutch collection. The hibachi (lit. fire bowl) is a traditional Japanese heating device. It is a brazier which is either round, cylindrical, or box-shaped, open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal. It is believed hibachi date back to the Heian period. It is filled with incombustible ash, and charcoal sits in the center of the ash. To handle the charcoal, a pair of metal chopsticks called hibashi (lit. ‘fire chopsticks’) is used in a way similar to Western fire irons or tongs. Hibachi were used for heating, not for cooking. It heats by radiation, and is too weak to warm a whole room, often disappointing foreigners who expected such power. Sometimes, people placed a tetsubin (iron kettle) over the hibachi to boil water for tea. Later, by the 1900s, some cooking was also done over the hibachi. This popular motif originates in China, where the rabbit is often portrayed as a companion of the Moon goddess Chang’e, constantly pounding the elixir of life for her. Auction comparison: Compare a related paulownia wood hibachi, dated late 19th century, Meiji period, 89 cm long, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Works of Art, 17 September 2013, New York, lot 3118 (sold for USD 4,375).