Black lacquered two tiered Bundai writting table, Japan circa 1920-1930

The top of the table is decorated with in partly raised gold takamakie on a ro-iro black lacquer and pewter inlays and represents the bridge over the Uji river under the moon.

On the lower level, a waterwheel turns in the river, surrounded by stone-filled baskets (jakugo) which protect the river banks from erosion. On the lower level the gold and black lacquer is enhanced by mother-of-pearl inlays.

A decor that combine willows with a bridge and waterwheel immediately evokes the bridge over the Uji River, a view long celebrated in literary works such as The Tale of Genji. Uji serves as the setting for the last ten chapters of The Tale of Genji, ending with « The Bridge of Dreams ».
The Uji River in southeast Kyoto - an area of rolling hills and clear water, leading it to become one of the sites renowned for its outstanding beauty, and to become incorporated into the canonical group of pictures of famous places (meisho-e) expressing a distinctive Japanese sensibility.
Paintings of the Uji Bridge decorated palaces by the 900s and remained popular for the next thousand years.
This theme has been appreciated by great artists as it allows creativity playing with the diagonals of the bridge, the shape of the moon and the moving appearance of the willow tree.
26x30x52cm

Japan, circa 1920-1930.