λ A JAPANESE GOLD AND BLACK LACQUER THREE-CASE INRO

λ A JAPANESE GOLD AND BLACK LACQUER THREE-CASE INRO

MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY

Decorated with a continuous design of a cockerel, a hen and their chicks pecking seeds, the birds amongst large chrysanthemum flowers, the design rendered in gold, silver and red takamaki-e and ­nashiji lacquer on the black roiro ground, a two-character signature with kao to the base; attached to a coral ojime and with an en-suite ivory manju netsuke with a large cockerel to the top, the inro 7.4cm.

Provenance: an American private collection, purchased 1990s-2010s.