A gold lacquer and metal-inlaid four-case inro

By a member of the Koma Family and Naka Komin, Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century

By a member of the Koma Family and Naka Komin, Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century
Decorated in gold and iro-e takamaki-e with the Rokkasen (Six Immortal Poets) clustered together, as if in conference, on a rich o-birame ground, three on one side and three on the other, their faces all inlaid in high relief of either bronze, shakudo or shibuichi, signed on the base for the lacquer Koma saku and for the metal details Naka Komin with a kao; with a red-carved lacquer ojime. 8.3cm (3¼in) high.

Provenance:
Edward Wrangham Collection, no.1731.
Purchased in these rooms, 9 November 2010, lot 272.

Published:
E. A. Wrangham, The Index of Inro Artists, Alnwick, Northumberland, Harehope Publications, 1995, p.142, Naka Komin, left.

Naka Komin (born 1850) worked in Tokyo and was a maker of decorative metal kanamono and some sword fittings.