An exceptional example of its type, measuring 4ft 9in high x 4ft 1in wide (1.44 x 1.25m), it was embellished across a typical array of shelves, cupboards, recesses and drawers with 14 ivory, bone, mother of pearl and lacquer pictorial panels depicting animals, insects, flower and family subjects.
One ivory panel of a boy with a hay bale and a rake carried a two-character signature and red seal that read Shoso Kosen.
It came for sale from the deceased estate of a collector from The Lizard, Cornwall, and was understood to have been acquired in Hong Kong in the 1960s.
As indicated by a valuation letter pasted to an inside door, it had been appraised by David Lay in January 1996.
There were only minor losses to the inlay but numerous breaks and joint movements to the woodwork.
Following a battle between thesaleroom.com and a phone line at the auction on February 20, the internet bidder won at a price that set a record for Asian art at the auction house.
