A gold-lacquer portable kodansu (cabinet)


Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th centuryThe rectangular body with a drop-front door opening to reveal within seven drawers, decorated in gold and silver takamaki-e, togidashi maki-e and mura-nashiji with thatched dwellings within a fenced compound set on the shores of a lake surrounded by pines, the design continuing on the sides and the reverse where plovers are shown in flight, the top with a crescent moon, the drawers embellished with five scattered variations of the hanabishi-mon (flowery-diamond crest), six drawers attached with silvered-metal ring pulls engraved with the same crest, the exterior with silvered-metal fitted mounts engraved with karakusa ('Chinese grasses'), unsigned; with a wood storage box and a key. 31.2cm x 38.6cm x 24cm (12¼in x 15¼in x 9½in). (3).