A GOLD-LACQUER TEBAKO (ACCESSORY BOX)
Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century
Rectangular with rounded corners and slightly domed inrōbuta (flush-fitting lid), the exterior decorated in gold hiramaki-e , takamaki-e , and togidashi-e , inlaid coral, silver and gilt metal, and gold and silver okibirame mosaic against a background of dense gold Gyōbu nashiji flakes, depicting images associated with Chapter 23, Hatsune (The First Song of Spring) of Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji), set in Prince Genji"s Rokujō Mansion, the residence of his daughter the Akashi princess: in the center a gilt-metal uguisu (warbler) perched on flowering plum branches; beside the plum, pines and a garden lake ending by a stand of pine saplings at upper right, the interior of the mansion glimpsed in a short stretch of tatami flooring with kichō (formal curtains) and rolled sudare (blinds), the interior and base nashiji , the rims silver, unsigned ; with a black-lacquered wood storage box inscribed in gold hiramaki-e characters Hatsune maki-e ontebako (Accessory box with maki-e design of the First Song of Spring)
5 × 8 × 9 1/2in (12.8 × 20.3 × 24.2cm)