A Japanese Bronze Vase

By Otsuno, Kakihan and Nogawa, Meiji Period, circa 1880

Finely inlaid in silver and gold with a spider and its web spun among bamboo, fine dark patination, signed Otsuno and Kakihan and Nogawa Mark

12 ½ in (32 cm) high

At the 1900 Paris Exhibition, Gallé exhibited a similar commode called Ipomoea, which was well received, and is now in the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Its exhibition inspired the commission of the present commode, Nocturne, for the important collector Henry Hirsch of Nancy. Hirsch did not like the discrete marquetry on the Ipomoea commode, so requested something different. The same framework was used but the morning glories on the broad panels of the Ipomoea were replaced by chrysanthemums and a mother-of-pearl butterfly. It is believed that no other Nocturne commode was ever made and this piece can be regarded as an undiscovered treasure.