Inrō composed of five stacked compartments with an ellipsoidal section, with rounded lid and bottom. The exterior is lacquered and gilded, and the decoration is finely painted in various shades of gold, silver and pigments. The depicted landscape, which extends along horizontal and diagonal lines, occupies the entire surface of the object: it is an imaginary scenario that condenses in miniature all the 53 stations of the Tōkaidō, each identified by the corresponding vertical cartouche. Stylized mountains and trees, rivers and junks, bridges and buildings are sometimes hidden by lenticular clouds. On a longitudinal band of the background there is the signature in gold and the small red stamp of the author. The interior of the compartments is in reddish Nashiji lacquer.
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Details
Title:Inro with Tokaido stations
Author:
Anonymous
Date:1800 ca.
Technique:Lacquered, gilded, silvered and painted wood