Kansai (active 19th century)A rare black lacquer four-case inroEdo period (1615-1868), dated 1840Of upright form, the roiro ground embellished with mura-nashiji, lacquered on one side with Urashima Taro seated beneath a pine tree, opening Otohime's box to reveal a minogame (bushy-tailed tortoise), the reverse with an elaborate design of the Sea King's palace above five minogame in breaking waves, in gold and colored takamaki-e, the interior of matte gold lacquer, signed and dated Tenpo juichinen gokugatsu Asakusa Seisuian ni oite tsurezure no hi kore o egaki narabi ni kore o tsukuru, Kansai (Designed and made by Kansai in days of leisure, at Seisuian, Asakusa, in the twelfth month of 1840) 3 7/8in (9.8cm) high注脚ProvenanceE.A. Wrangham Collection, sold, Bonhams, London, The Wrangham Collection of Japanese Art, Part IV, November 6, 2013, lot 246Wrangham Collection, no.2026, purchased at Christies, London, 1991PublishedE. A. Wrangham, The Index of Inro Artists, Harehope, Northumberland, 1995, p.114, Kansai