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A Japanese Bronze Yatate – Ink and Brush Holder browse these categories for related items... All Items: Antiques:Regional Art:Asian:Japanese:Metalwork: Pre 1900: item # 916136 Please refer to our stock # ICHI 3269 when inquiring.
Ichiban Japanese & Oriental Antiques Post Office Box 395 Marion, CT 06444-0395 203.272.7392 Guest Book $325.00 |
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This is a late Edo to early Meiji bronze yatate with a cast turtle on the top of the bowl that holds the ink. The turtle sits on top of a large rock. The shaft of the yatate has an incised long floral decoration. The shaft also has two holes for holding a silk string to carry the yatate on a sash. The piece has a lovely old patina – the hinge works perfectly – and the inside of the ink box shows definite signs of usage. It measures 7 “ long – the ink box is 2” wide by 1 2/3” deep by 1 ¼” high. The average diameter of the shaft where the brush would have been carried is 3/8”. We date the yatate to the late Edo to early Meiji period, circa 1860s - 1890s. A fine addition to a set of accessories for a scholar/ Yatate are small personal smoking-pipe-shaped writing sets from medieval Japan which provided a carrying box for the ink cotton, and a shaft for a brush (and possibly a letter opener). Yatate literally means "Arrow Stand" ("ya-tate"). The name comes from the fact that early bushi kept ink stones inside their arrow stands. During the Kamakura era (1185-1333), the idea of ink-saturated cotton appeared. By touching the cotton with a brush, one made it ready to write. By enclosing the cotton in a little box ("sumi tsubo"), it was possible to carry the set around without risk of spilling ink. The first yatate were long boxes, with the ink compartment in the axis of the pen. The "smoking pipe" shape was designed to increase the quantity of available ink. In the late Edo era, another design was developed, with the ink box attached to the pen shaft by a chain; the ink box was used as a netsuke to fix the yatate to the belt (other yatate are simply put in the belt like a fan). |
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