A black lacquer four-case inro

By Shojusai, Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century

By Shojusai, Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century
Bearing a roiro and e-nashiji ground, lacquered on one side with an elegant townswoman walking along the banks of a river in a contemplative attitude, her garments billowing in the wind, while on the reverse, a maidservant kneels beneath an overhanging pine branch beating cloth with kinuta (pestles) on a fulling block, in gold and slightly coloured togidashi maki-e, the interior of nashiji; signed Shojusai with a kao. 7.9cm (3 1/8in).

Provenance:
Purchased at Christie's, London, 1963.
Edward Wrangham Collection.
Purchased in these rooms, 15 May 2012, lot 337.

Published:
E. A. Wrangham, The Index of Inro Artists, Alnwick, Northumberland, Harehope Publications, 1995, p.250, Shoju(sai), left.

The design is taken from a woodblock print by Kubo Shunman (1757-1820), from the series Mutamagawa (Six Jewel Rivers), published c.1790.