λ A JAPANESE LACQUER INRO AND A TORTOISESHELL VESTA CASE

λ A JAPANESE LACQUER INRO AND A TORTOISESHELL VESTA CASE
19TH/20TH CENTURY

9cm max. (2)

From an English private collection acquired in the 1950s and 1960s.

The four-case inro decorated in gold takamaki-e and nashiji with mother of pearl inlays; one side with two models of cranes, a branch of pine, bamboo and flowering prunus, the reverse with a wrapped fish on a kagetsudai (lacquer stand), possibly shogatsu kazari offerings to celebrate the New Year; the vesta case in tortoiseshell decorated with birds amongst foliage, 7cm.