Dunhill Pocket Cigarette Case In Japanese Lacquer Namiki Decor Koï Carp Signed Shisen (紫川)

Japanese rectangular Dunhill- Namiki makie pocket cigarette case made of metal and lacquer decorated in colorful hiramaki-e with a koi carp on a roiro ground above a simulated water in nashiji with kirikane and fern-shaped reeds in hiramakiye , signed on the back lower left Shisen (紫川) Ei Sato. Circa 1930.
These accessories were made in small numbers over a relatively short period of time.
Note wear on both sides proportional to age and use, pitting on the gilding inside the case.
worldwide delivery included by chronopost, insurance included.
A symbol of vigor, health and courage, the Koi carp is the Japanese fish par excellence. Generations of maki-e shi have been bred practicing goldfish (a genetic mutation linked to carp) as this pattern requires the use of many of the very important techniques that make up this performer.
For this reason, the goldfish is a symbol constantly used to illustrate the various lacquering processes on the making of a Namiki pen. It is therefore no coincidence that this kind of theme is found on many Namiki pens and boxes, as well as on Dunhill cigarette cases, lighters and other accessories.
With its purity of lines, this particular cigarette case sums up all the reasons why Namiki collectors fall in love with this kind of object.
Despite its simplicity, when you look at it you feel a brilliant aura, you gently perceive a timeless elegance (the poignant beauty of fragile things to borrow from Mr JF Canton). The process of making the Hiramaki-E Goldfish has been described so effectively by T. Murakami in his landmark work Dunhill-Namiki and Lacquer Pens (pp. 8-9). Bibliography:
Murakami, Tomihiro. Dunhill-Namiki and Lacquer pens. City of Sakura, 2000 Hutt, Julia & Stephen Overbury, Namiki: The Art of Lacquer Pens. Toronto, 2000 Larquemin, Christophe. The four seasons of Namiki. Paris, 2009 Canton, Jean-Francois. Namiki: The poignant beauty of fragile things. Aurillac, France, 2013 A legacy of Maki-E pens. The Briggs Collection (limited edition). Singapore, 2013
Source www.stilusaurea.com