A treasure trove of Japanese artwork will help raise a small fortune to help pay for the care of kittens waiting for a new home.
Staff at Canterbury Auction Galleries were amazed when the artefacts were donated anonymously.
Rescued cats and kittens waiting to be re-homed by a Kent charity will benefit from the generous donation which was dropped off at one of its shops, all wrapped up.
It wasn’t until staff started to peel away the paper did they start to realise what they had.
They came from a woman who spent part of her life living in Japan who collected them gradually while in the orient.
She handed over the collection of figures to the Folkestone and Hythe branch of Cats Protection.
They go under the hammer the Canterbury Auction Galleries on December 8 and are expected to raise more than £1,800. The company is giving the charity a reduced commission to maximise the amount raised.
Frances Baker, 57, from Cats Protection said: "I was amazed and delighted with I found these amazing objects left at our shop in Hythe High Street. I just kept opening one package after another getting more and more excited.
"It is extremely generous of the person involved. The money raised will go a long way to caring for our cats, which go out to new homes with a full bill of health and microchipped so they can be traced if they get lost."
The items are made from ivory, but can be legally traded as they were made to so long ago, the auctioneers said.
Tony Pratt from the company said these items are known by collectors as ‘okimono’ and date from the Meiji period, which is roughly equivalent to the Victorian era.
They were made by skilful Japanese artisans and craftsmen who previously had made weapons and armour for samurai warriors. When it became unlawful to carry weapons in public, the craftsmen turned their hands to producing fine works of art.
The pick of the collection is a figure of a traveller wearing a wide brimmed coolie straw hat and carrying two parcels. It has an estimated value of up to £500.
Another figure shows a samurai stooping with age but glaring defiantly and holding a sword in one hand, with another tucked into his belt and is worth up to £250, while a figure of a fisherman standing on a carved wooden base is estimated at around £250.
Other figures include one depicting Hotei, one of the seven lucky Japanese Gods, and another showing a warrior carrying two swords. They will be sold together with an estimate of £150-250.
The collection also includes two lacquer four-case ‘inros’, the name given to the small decorative containers that acted as purses to hang from the sash of a kimono.
They consisted of separate sections stacked on top of each other, and were kept together by a cord loop. Originally intended to carry seals and herbal medicines, by the 18th century they had become decorative accessories, often of great beauty.
One of the two to be sold is finely decorated in gilt with fir trees, and is complete with a green silk cord with cloisonné sliding bead and carved wood mushroom pattern netsuke (pronounced 'netski') an ornamental toggle used to attach the inro to the sash.
The inro is signed inside and is thought to be the work of Nohra Shikibu. It is estimated at up to £250.
The second inro is also finely decorated in gold and silver with two boats in choppy seas with birds flying above. A five-character mark to base is thought to be that of Kyuhaku Koma.
Again complete with green silk cord and a lacquered bead, the netsuke is carved as a devil's mask. It is estimated at £250-350.
For more information phone the auctioneer on 01227 763337.
POSTED: 29/11/2009 12:00:00
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