A group of five wood kiseruzutsu (pipe cases) with kiseru (pipes)


Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th/20th centuryEach of senryu-zutsu type, the first carved as a mythical beast with eyes of inlaid mother-of-pearl, the front decorated with a shaped panel with a stylized character and a feather fan above a reishi fungus inlaid in stag horn, the himotoshi formed by a space beneath the long nose, with a brass and bamboo pipe; the second carved as a snake with a frog held in its coils, both animal's eyes inlaid in light and dark horn, with a silver and bamboo pipe incised with scrolling vines; the third carved as a banana leaf with a snail climbing up the reverse, with a silvered metal and bamboo pipe carved with sparrows and bamboo in katakiri-bori; the fourth carved as a dragon fish with its jaws agape, with a silver and bamboo pipe incised with floral and geometric patterns; the fifth carved as a cluster of mushrooms, the bamboo and brass pipe cast with a various sea creatures (5) 9 1/2in (24.9cm) long, the largest