A GOLD-LACQUER KODANSU (MINIATURE CABINET)
Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century
With a hinged door opening to reveal four drawers, constructed with rounded chiri-i ledges to each edge finished in Gyōbu nashiji flakes and with silvered-metal hinges, lockplate, drawer pulls, and carrying handle, supported on an integral scalloped base, the exterior and interior decorated in gold hiramaki-e and takamaki-e lavishly embellished with okibirame gold-foil mosaic, depicting a spring mountain landscape with maple, pine, and flowering cherry trees, the interiors rich gold nashiji , unsigned ; with a wood storage box inscribed outside Onhairyō sansui sōmaki-e ontebako ( Tebako with an all-over maki-e landscape, an imperial gift) and with an accompanying document including a scaled colored drawing of the tebako and a note to the effect that it was presented by the Empress on June 11, 1906 to the Princess President of the Red Cross Volunteer Nurses" Association (Princess Sanjō Chieko)
8 5/8 x 6 1/4 × 7 5/8in (21.3 × 15.7 × 19.3cm)