山田常嘉斎作 木蓮オウム蒔絵螺鈿印籠|Inrō with Cockatoo and Magnolia

Yamada Jōkasai

19th century · Red lacquer ground with gold maki-e, carved red lacquer, and mother-of-pearl inlay Netsuke: poppy; ivory Ojime: roundels; red and green lacquer in wood · Asian Art

Inrō are small containers with multiple chambers for holding medicinal herbs, seals, and other small items. They are worn suspended from a sash by means of small toggles that are known as netsuke. Use of inrō, which developed in lieu of pockets in traditional Japanese clothing, flourished from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. The signature on the bottom of this example reads "Jōkasai," a reference to any one of a number of artists in the Yamada family, active after the late seventeenth century, who used that name.

Artist

Yamada Jōkasai

Date

19th century

Medium

Red lacquer ground with gold maki-e, carved red lacquer, and mother-of-pearl inlay Netsuke: poppy; ivory Ojime: roundels; red and green lacquer in wood

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1913