I’ve easily watched over 200 Japanese movies, old and new, and I’ve gotten into the habit of not only listening to the dialogue for language nuances, but also watching for cultural, architectural, and furnishing concepts. Last night I was watching Fight, Zatoichi, Fight and I saw an Inro in use for I think the first time (I might have just never noticed it before). What does that mean? A new post of course, and I think I found a very nice example to write about.

First I must say I dont know a whole lot about these objects, but they are probably the most well know type of sagemono (hanging objects) that were suspended from the obi. Kimono do not have pockets, so the only way people had to carry things around was by hanging them from their sash. The literal meaning of inro is seal container and the original design was basically a small box that held the Hanko (personal seal) and some type of inkpad. Later additional layers of boxes were added to hold anything else wanted to be carried. The boxes were strung together with silkin cord that ran through a Himotoshi (channel or aperture), tightened up with an Ojime (moveable bead) and hung from the obi with a Netsuke (sculptural object or toggle) to secure it.

This piece is a fine example of taka-maki-e (raised maki-e), where the design is built up of layers of lacquer mixed with metallic powders, in this case, cranes flying amidst the clouds. The inner sleeve area has nashiji-nuri (peach skin lacquer) where a base layer of lacquer is sprinkled with nashiji-ko (metallic flakes) and then coated again with lacquer. After that, it is polished to expose the flakes which give it that sparkly appearance. The ojime is a human skull made out of what looks like ivory, which is highly possible because this is from the late 1700’s, and the netsuke is made out of Edo glass.

This piece seems to have some provenance. Signed by the artist Kajikawa, purportedly used by a chief retainer of a Hirosaki daimyo, and due to the fact that you rarely find all three of the parts remaining together, it’s no doubt a museum quality piece and can command its high price tag of $10,000. Im starting to think I need to open my own museum so I could buy this kind of stuff; benefactors needed!

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If I had a zashiki or dei (main entertaining tatami room), this is one piece I would definitely want to put in it. An amazing Sendai tansu with beautiful hardware. This was definitely a showpiece for an affluent merchant to display while he was entertaining guests.

Although I believe this to actually represent the fourth stage of Sendai evolution (late Meiji or early Taisho) due to the fact that is a stacking piece, the floriate button on the lockplate is non existant, meaning that it has a double action lock (urajo), it has mokko style handles which replaced the earlier warabite style, and the lockplates are also embossed and incised with beatiful depictions of what I think are shishi (lion-dogs of protection).

Exhibiting a nice Kijiro laquer finish over a nice reddish stain on the Keyaki wood, this piece definitely presents an impressive display of craftsmanship.

Another nice thing I would like to point out is the corner hardware (which I believe is called herikanagu). Nicely incised, this also points out how with the introduction of sheet metal at the end of the Meiji era, the craftsmen were able to spend more time on the decoration instead of just on fabrication of hardware, therefore adding to the aesthetic qualities of the pieces. And hey, if I was a wealthy merchant that had to hide my wealth due to the Edo era edicts, once the Meiji restoration hit, I would have jumped on all this ornamentation as well.

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Here is a nice example of a Japanese writing box. These were used, as the name implies, to store the necessary items for writing as well as providing document storage. Here you would find a suzuri (inkstone), sumi (ink), fude (brushes), paper, paperweights, hanko (personal seal), as well as any other things related to writing. What is interesting to me is how the original Kakesuzuri chests (of which this is not one) influenced the original funa dansu (sea chests). Another interesting note is how kakesuzuri persisted as the name for this type of chest, and was changed depending on what region you were in to suzuri bako.

This piece got my attention because it was the first time I came across a chest with some true provenance. This is signed and dated by the maker, Kimura Magoemon, in 1880, and lists who it was made for, Sakamoto-san of Sekimura. Sugoi, ne! With a little TLC this could be a nice inclusion to your collection. The price is cheap, $250.00, but the auction is up in mere hours. Going once, going twice…

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