CHIKUZAN: A RARE LACQUERED FOUR-CASE INRO WITH CRICKET Signed hachiju hachi-o and sealed chiku and zan Japan, late 18th to early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) A four-case wood inro decorated on one side with a raised design of a cricket inlaid in ceramic, amongst autumnal pampas grass lacquered in gold hiramaki-e and takamaki-e. The black ground is sprinkled with gold flakes. The reverse showing a half-crescent moon inlaid in pewter and fine gold calligraphy. The inside with dense nashiji. The underside signed hachiju hachi-o (“inscribed by an old man aged eighty-eight”) and sealed CHIKU 竹 and ZAN 山. HEIGHT 9.2 cm Condition: Good age-related condition, with few thin cracks, only one visible in the inside. Provenance: British private collection. A very unusual inro due to the combination of the pewter inlay, usually seen on early inro, and the quite modernistic ceramic inlay, which suggests the school of Ogawa Haritsu (Ritsuo). The artist is not identifiable.