SHIBATA ZESHIN 柴田是真 (1807–1891) INRŌ (MEDICINE CASE) WITH DESIGN OF SHŌKI THE DEMON-QUELLER AND A DEMON, AND NETSUKE (TOGGLE) WITH SAKE-BOTTLE DESIGN 鍾馗鬼遣図蒔絵鞘印籠　酒瓢図蒔絵根付Meiji era (1868–1912), circa 1886In sheath-inrō form, the case of wood covered in silver fundame textured in ishime-nuri to imitate the walls of a rustic dwelling, each side pierced with a window, the window bars rendered on one side in shell and on the other in tetsusabi-nuri, one side of the sheath hinged to release the container inside, the interior of the sheath finished in gold fundame lacquer, the container probably of paper, with overhanging lid and divided interior, covered in gold kinji and ishime-nuri; on the front, Shōki the Demon-queller in coloured togidashi maki-e seen from the waist up, dressed in the robes and cap of a Chinese scholar-official, with his sword on his back and wearing a baleful expression, the reverse also in togidashi maki-e with an oni (demon) in silhouette hiding behind a shōji (paper screen), the netsuke in box form, of wood lacquered in shibuichi-nuri and with a design of a large and a small decorated gourd in takamaki-e; iron and gold ojime in the form of a mallet; the inrō signed in scratched characters on the base near one of the cord-runners Zeshin 是真, the netsuke signed in scratched characters on the base Zeshin 是真Inrō: 8.2cm × 6cm × 1.6cm (3¼in × 2⅜in × ⅝in)Netsuke: 3.2cm × 2.7cm × 1.4cm (1¼in × 1in × ½in)With fitted wood storage box (2)Provenance:(Inrō:)Vever CollectionVignier CollectionDensmore CollectionBess Collection(Netsuke:)Hayashi Collection, sold in 1902Vever Collection(Inrō and netsuke:)Charles Greenfield Collection, sold at Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1990Sold in these Rooms, 5 November 2014, lot 6Exhibited and Published:Stern 1972, cat. no. 164 (inrō)Pekarik 1980, cat. no. 79Eskenazi 1990, cat. no. 79Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum) 2012, cat. no. 87注脚The Chinese demon-queller Shōki in pursuit of a fleeing oni (demon) was one of Zeshin's favourite subjects in both lacquer and painting, and numerous examples are extant (for a painted version, see lot 11 in the present catalogue). The Nezu Museum in Tokyo owns an inrō (Nezu Bijutsukan 2012, cat. no. 86) which is very similar to the present lot with the difference that the inner container is in the more usual form of a set of interlocking compartments. With its intricate structure, complex range of techniques, lively characterization, and meticulous finish, this lot displays many of the virtues of Zeshin's finest inrō.