A lacquered and shell-inlaid suzuribako (box for writing utensils) and cover


Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), probably mid/late 19th centuryThe black lacquer ground almost entirely inlaid with a continuous scene of a bugaku performance, one musician beating a large taiko (barrel drum) surmounted by flames in front of a curtain strung between flowering cherry branches, other musicians playing the sho (reed pipe) and drum, the sides decorated with a band of shippo-tsunagi (linked-cash), the inside of the lid embellished with a flowering branch of cherry blossoms on a nashiji ground, the interior of the box of rich nashiji with a detachable fitted tray to accomodate the ink-grinding stone and bronze suiteki (water-dropper); unsigned. 6cm x 26.5cm x 23.6cm (2 3/8in x 10 3/8in x 9¼in). (5).