Namiki for Dunhill, a very rare Art Deco silver and lacquer ...

Namiki for Dunhill, a very rare Art Deco silver and lacquer vanity case, circa 1930, of rectangular outline, the hinged lid depicting a scholar retreating to his hut via a bridge, the hut among a bamboo thicket overlooked by a pine tree on a rocky cliff, in Somada-style aogai inlay in mother of pearl, on a black roiro lacquer ground, heightened with gold maki-e, bordered in nashi-ji, the base similarly inlaid, centring on a floral roundel in black and red, within a rectangular panel of cream lacquer with a diaper pattern in aogai inlay, to a nashi-ji border, opening to reveal a mirror, lidded powder compartment and lipstick holder, measuring 5.3 x 4.5 x 1.1cm, signed Dunhill Sterling Paris, numbered 5176, unidentified and partially indistinct French maker's mark, possibly RM with axe, French assay marks for 800 and 925 silver, base with lacquer signature, partially concealed by shell inlay, reading Namiki Kan, indistinct artist's signature with red kao, gross weight approximately 99.5 grams This extraordinary vanity case, produced by Dunhill in collaboration with the Namiki firm of Japanese lacquer artists, appears to be extremely rare, with few if any comparable examples apparent. The Namiki firm was founded in 1925, and collaborated with Dunhill from 1930, providing them with fashionable traditional Japanese lacquer decoration, primarily employed on pens. This example is exceptional among the Namiki firm's output for its extensive use of 'raden' (inlaid mother of pearl or 'aogai'), traditionally associated with the Somada family of lacquer artists. The application of this technique to a vanity case would likely also have been inspired by similar jewels of this period by Cartier, which repurposed sections of antique Chinese Kangxi-period shell-inlaid lacquer, known in the west as 'lac burgauté'. The design seen on the lid of this vanity case includes a distinctive plant to the lower right, cut in mother of pearl. This is possibly intended to be a banana tree, which would identify the figure crossing the bridge as the beloved Edo-period haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-94), who took his sobriquet 'Basho' from the Japanese name for this unusual plant that he grew outside his home, a hut on the banks of the Sumida river.

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