A RARE THREE-CASE LACQUER INRO WITH AN ELEPHANT BY YOZAN
Lacquer inro with colours and boneJapan19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)A three-case inro with a large, caparisoned elephant in takamaki-e on the front side. The animal is carrying a large vessel full of flowers on its back. The lacquer technique is sophisticated; the elephant is white with coloured decorations while the vessel is black and the flowers inside it - of a variety of colours - extend to the top of the inro. The reverse is dominated by the dark brown wooden background with its fine grain pattern and shows a small archaic tripod, possibly carved from bone or ivory and painted black. Gold lacquer signature YOZAN saku (made this) on the underside. The style of this inro is reminiscent of Ogawa Haritsu.HEIGHT 8.1 CMCondition: Generally, in good condition - with expected wear and losses to lacquerProvenance: German private collection