AN UNUSUAL JAPANESE SIX-CASE TSUISHU RED LACQUER INRO

AN UNUSUAL JAPANESE SIX-CASE TSUISHU RED LACQUER INRO

EDO PERIOD, 18TH OR 19TH CENTURY

Carved in low and sunken relief to both sides with scholars and attendants, one carrying his master's staff and wide-brimmed hat, another with a qin wrapped in a brocade silk cover; the figures standing in luxuriant gardens and with scrolling clouds above, on a ground of tight lozenge patterns, together with an agate ojime, the inro 11cm.

Provenance: an English private collection, Somerset, purchased in Japan.