context: lacquerwork > artists

a Kajikawa inro

Kajikawa family

The Kajikawa family worked for the Shogunate from the 17th Century to the 19th, and demonstrate one of the problems of attribution in the area of lacquerware, in that almost all of their signatures that are to be found show only the family name. I particularly wanted to show the 200 year old inro illustrated, since I was so impressed by its grasp and control of tone, texture and abstract pattern - it reminds me of early 20th Century collage work. The characters mean long life. The condition is spectacularly good too.

backwards: ogata korin

forwards: koma family