A SMALL JAPANESE FOUR-CASE LACQUERED WOOD INRO

A SMALL JAPANESE FOUR-CASE LACQUERED WOOD INRO

EDO PERIOD, 18TH CENTURY

Decorated in gold, silver, red and brown lacquer, embellished with gold foil on a ground of roiro-nuri, the interior in nashiji, one side with a scholar and a child attendant on a sampan observing a crane flying above, the reverse with two figures under a rocky outcrop, 6.3cm.

Provenance: formerly the collection of Sir Sydney Richard Wells, 1st Baronet, D.L., M.P. for Bedford (1879-1957) of Felmersham Grange, Bedfordshire, and thence by descent.