Asian Works of Art

Provenance:

Previously in the collection of The Date Clan (Sendai Date-ke), Sendai, Japan. With an authentication letter by Kanō Yasunobu (1614-1685, Japanese painter of the Kanō school)

Baron Dan Takuma (1858-1932). Director-General of Mitsui, one of the leading Japanese zaibatsu (family conglomerates). 

Thence inherited by eldest son, Baron Inō Dan (1892-1973).

Exhibited:

Toyo Bijutsu Daitenran, Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, Japan, 1938, no. 47.

Illustrated:

Sendai Date-ke Gozōhin Nyūsatsu. Tokyo: Tokyo Bijutsu Kurabu, 1916. Item 12.

Yomiuri Shinbunsha. Nihon Meihō Monogatari.

Tokyo: Seibundō, 1929.

Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, dry plate database, no. 00926, photographed October 27, 1932.

Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts,

Tōyō Bijutsu Daitenrankai zuroku.

 Kyoto: Benrido, 1938.

Item 47.

Tōei: vol.15 no.6.

Tokyo: Toeisha, 1939. 

這是我行第三次推出芝加哥分店店长永谷寿三之遺產。永谷17嵗被山中家派駐北京，旋赴波士頓，再遷紐約，終掌芝加哥分店，過手精品無數。太平洋戰爭爆發，山中商會查封，永谷領命清倉，后來創立永谷商會。芝城老錢新貴如布倫戴齊（前奧組委主席、舊金山亞洲藝術博物館主捐贈人）、近年叱吒拍場的瓊肯三世、喜馬拉雅藝術收藏巨擘阿兹多夫等皆是常客。79年賢内助驟然下世，永谷無限傷痛，淡出經營。彼時我司創始人剛剛創業，與永谷的店面比鄰而居，一早相識。永谷的後人後來搬離芝城，無古董從業者。兩年前聯係我司，云芝城老宅尚存一批遺產，遂分批上拍，買家珍重，成績斐然。本次推出若干書畫玩器，是第三批也可能是最後一批。

永谷的故事已夠曲折，但遠不能與這幅麝香貓相比，後者涉及日本華族與暗殺，血腥而奇情。此軸繪玳瑁大貓一隻，囧囧有神；幼貓兩隻，后烏雲蓋雪，前雪裏拖槍，靜極思動，憨態可掬。茶地金緞裱裝，桐木雙匣，著錄纍纍。最早文獻係狩野安信（號永真，1614-1685）所書鑒定極札，時間當在晚明。最早交易記錄係1916年東京美術俱樂部「仙臺伊達家御蔵品」競拍會，買家是三井財閥董事長團琢磨（1858-1932）。也就是説，從晚明到清末近三百年，一直存於仙臺伊達家。

仙台藩的始祖，便是戰國時代大名伊達政宗（1567-1636）。原本他追隨豐臣秀吉，曾出兵大明治下朝鮮，仿唐代名將李克用自名「獨眼龍」，後來與德川家康結親，輔佐三代將軍家光，逝后家光要求城内奏哀樂三日，不得殺生。不過德川幕府成立后，天下大定，政宗更多寄情于烹飪和收藏。他因深受將軍依賴，賞賜衆多，其中頗多御物，不乏中國文物，即所謂「唐物」。此軸鑒定極札的書寫人狩野安信，從姓氏即知出自狩野派，統領畫壇四百年，是幕府時代御用的繪師家族。李迪毛益等南宋名家所繪貓犬，對狩野派描摹動物的技法，有著深厚的影響。狩野家族既是職業畫匠，也擔鑒定之責。將狩野安信與伊達政宗的生辰相叠，此軸當于17世紀中葉歸伊達家，直到20世紀初售出。

明治維新后，伊達家雖然獲封伯爵，但新舊鼎革，大廈將傾，在曾經的家臣、當時已貴爲第二任日本银行行长、东京都知事的實業家富田鐡之助（1835-1916）協助下，定於1916年春在東京美術俱樂部舉辦拍賣，充盈家資。期間富田去世，籌備工作由他的好友、有「東洋酒王」之稱的三井物產高管馬越恭平（1844-1933）接手。馬越本人也在這場拍賣中獵得不少珍品，如2020年7月香港佳士得書畫亮點元代錢選《林檎圖》即由此而來。馬越恭平固携巨資，但與競得本軸的團琢磨相比，那就是小巫見大巫了，後者係三井財閥總帥，日本近代史上赫赫有名的人物。

團氏出身福岡，14嵗被藩主选中，隨岩仓使节团赴美念書，畢業于麻省理工采礦專業，娶使节团密友、日後成爲政治家的金子坚太郎之妹為妻。回國后加入三井礦業，1914年出任理事長。團氏留美，故而親美。1927年昭和金融恐慌，不久金解禁，以三井爲首的財閥因大量買入美元備受批評，極右翼興起，政商界人士頻遭不測。1932年3月5日團琢磨在東京三井本館門前遇刺，子彈穿透左胸，當場身亡，是爲「血盟團事件」。

團琢磨字狸山，从名号来看，是爱猫之人。他收藏颇豐，是東京帝室博物館初期重要的贊助人，在這幅麝香貓的畫匣中還有首任舘長股野琢（1838-1921）與他的致謝函。書畫他有不少，不過幾種出版物選錄藏品，總用這幅麝香貓。1928年閒院宮載仁親王編輯《日本名宝物語》，向諸侯公卿徵集御物，團氏即以此圖出戰。30年帝国美術院成立研究所，以當時最先進的玻璃乾板術攝影文化財，團氏提供的也是這幅麝香貓。

團琢磨遇刺后，長男團伊能（1892-1973）襲男爵名，也繼承了大部分家藏。團伊能畢業於東京帝國大學美術史学科，比乃父更熱衷藝術，捐獻大筆珍品與東博，不少被列爲文化財。

1938年大阪每日新聞社組織「東洋美術大展」，團伊能是顧問之一，山中商會是贊助之一，此作很可能展后由山中商會携往美國銷售，蓋當年春天日本公佈《國民總動員法》和《物資總動員計劃》，强制全國經濟支持在華日軍，日本藝術市場大收衝擊。

或許是定價太高，直到1944年山中商會被查封，此軸都未曾售出（据標簽時價$17,500，相當於今天的$38萬）。永谷寿三從獨立開店到關門歇業，也沒有為它找到買家，直至今日登上我們的九月拍場。希望那會是一個納貓吉日，為三隻流落海外的狸奴聘到新主人。

HIZASO NAGATANI (1905-1994) was a collector, connoisseur, and dealer of Asian works of art. Born in Osaka in 1905, and raised by a single mother in Nishinomiya, Nagatani developed a passion for Asian art during his adolescence. At age 17, he joined Yamanaka & Co., a highly renowned firm known for its commitment to quality and rarity. He spent his young adulthood based in Beijing, traveling throughout China handling porcelains, bronzes, stone sculptures, jades, and pottery. Soon after, he was dispatched to Boston before relocating to Chicago. He rose to manage the Yamanaka & Co. storefront on the Magnificent Mile until the firm was directed to cease business operations in the United States. In 1944, he opened a new gallery on North Michigan Avenue in his own name. His providence in nurturing relationships with those who shared his passion for the material helped him develop a robust client roster including both local celebrities and important figures in the field, including Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, Louis Hill, Robert Mayer, Avery Brundage, and the Alsdorfs. 

In 1935, he married Chica, who became his partner in business and life. Chica was an indispensable talent, even having served as a secretary to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania prior to joining her husband’s firm as president. Within a few years of her passing, Hizaso closed their business, and donated funds to build the Nagatani Academic Center for student athletes at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, a unique space designed to nurture and celebrate student athletes’ academic success. His collection of rare books on the Chinese and Japanese art was granted to the College of Architecture, Art, and Urban Planning Resource Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and he donated many of his works of art to the Field Museum and established the Nagatani Fund for Collections in memory of his wife. The property in this sale comprises some of last remaining objects directly from the collection of Hisazo Nagatani, an important figure whose tastes are represented among the world’s foremost private collections and museums to this day.

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