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Antique Japanese WovenSilk PaintedCeramicOjimes Beadwork Embroidery Inro

About the Item

This rare antique Edo-period (1615-1868) Japanese handmade inro is a curved lozenge-shaped hand-dyed woven-silk hard carrying-case container sheath that features intricate embroidery with rock-crystal or glass beadwork and thin leather-wrapped thread appliques. For its "Kimono Style" exhibition, TheMet museum noted: "the dying, weaving, and embroidery techniques for which Japan is famed reached their peak of artistic sophistication during the Edo period." On the burgundy finely-braided silk obijime cord that suspends the inro hang adjustable ojime fasteners of glazed earthenware, which are hand-painted with underglaze and overglaze enamels. The imagery includes signature-like branches, mountains, and a pine tree. Each knotted end of the cord dangles from the bottom of the inro with two rice-paper tubular beads. We could not find any Japanese beads constructed from handmade rice-paper like this in any online-accessible museum collection. The long-ago artist who made this and the other handcrafted elements was an expert in multiple artistic skills beyond the typical inro maker. In the same elongated shape of our inro, we found one with ball-shaped ojime at the V&A museum that was made in the 18th Century by Ogawa Haritsu, who was an inro master also specialized in ceramics and painting who died in 1747. The V&A noted that he had a talented apprentice, Mochizuchi Hanzan, who continued to innovate in his master's style during the rest of the century. The only other inro among hundreds in its collection that has a painted ceramic ojime like ours is dated 1750 to 1800. The V&A noted: "ceramic inro are unusual, especially at this early date. The background of this design suggests that it imitates leather. During the late 1700s and early 1800s Dutch leather became popular in Japan and the craftsman who made this probably had knowledge of such exotic wares." The same two embroidered designs appear on each side, whereby the top one may be an animal with a long neck or tail like a dragon, while the bottom one may be fruits, flowers or clouds. While the threads seem hand-woven to the mostly concealed organic material, the distressed exterior is covered in grey silk, while the interior has a teal-silk rim and undyed-silk lining. On one side of the inro there is bead loss at the top. On the other side, there is leather-wrapped thread loss at the bottom. Most inro were made for men from durable materials in rectangular shapes and multiple sections so that they could enclose small items of importance, like a seal, to a sash tied on the torso to close their kimono. Since this textile-and-ceramic one that seems to conceal a hand-carved or basketry base has such a delicate exterior, we assume it was a costly fashion accessory custom-made for a geisha's kimono with little or no function. Although, there was a match box inserted by the previous owner that we removed. With the Japanese adoption of Western dress since the late 19th Century, inro and their makers mostly disappeared, while much of the knowledge and skills to make them were lost. Since the late Edo period the artistic value of inro increased, as they were no longer used as an accessory and came to be regarded as an art object for collection.

Dimensions:

Width: 2 in (5.08 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)Length: 14 in (35.56 cm)

Style:

18th Century (Of the Period)

Place of Origin:

Japan

Period:

18th Century

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use.

Seller Location:

Chicago, IL