Suzuri or ink-stone in the shape of an irregular pool over which leans a tiger lapping at the water, the lid of rosewood carved in the form of a rolling mist that covers the water. Of carved, dark black slate, the lid of carved rosewood. Signed on the reverse with a carved, seal-form signature by the artist Amamiya Seiken (Seiken 11th, the go or art name of Amamiya Seiken, 1892 – 1973). Showa 9 or 1934.

With the tomobako or original box, inscribed on the exterior of the lid: Tennen Ro Tora Suzuri or Natural Form Ink Stone (with) Tiger; and on the reverse of the lid dated to Showa Kinoe Inu, Chushu or Showa (era) Year of the Dog (1934), the Middle of Autumn; and signed: Ju-ichi-dai Seiken Saku or Made by the Seiken 11th Generation Master, and sealed twice: the lower seal: Amamiya Seiken. On the lower right corner of the interior box lid is the applied, red and white paper label of K. Hattori (Hattori Tokeiten).

Hattori & Company began as a commissioning house during the Meiji era, specializing in silver, bronzes, fine clocks and artworks. By the 1930s they were one of the most prestigious shops in all of Tokyo. Hattori later became Wako, still one of the most exclusive, small department stores on the Ginza.

Born in Yamanashi in 1892, Amamiya Seiken was the heir to a family famous for their Amahata suzuri since 1690. In 1909, he entered the Tokyo School of Fine Art and studied drawing under Takeuchi Seiho. In 1914, he exhibited at the Taisho Hakurankai. In 1925, his entry took a prize at an exhibition in Kumamoto. From 1931, he was accepted into the Imperial Art Exhibitions, where he exhibited four times. In 1935 and in 1937, he exhibited in Korea. After the Pacific War, he exhibited at the Nitten eight times between 1948 and 1956, taking the tokusen or gold prize for his 1948 entry. From 1957 – 1972, he was an exhibitor and member of the Nihon Dento Kogeiten, and for the last two years a judge at the show. He died the following year, in 1973.

Often associated with the samurai ideal of bravery, the tiger figures classically in Japanese art. Like a painting, this rare sculptural suzuri by Amamiya Seiken conveys a narrative charm: at dawn, a tiger laps water from a misting pool.