A FUCHI AND KASHIRA WITH ONO NO TOFU AND FROGJapan, Edo period (1615-1868)The shibuichi kashira with copper and silver takazogan inlays, depicting the calligrapher Ono no Tofu wearing an eboshi and holding a fan. The fuchi also of shibuichi, decorated with a frog in a river landscape, inlaid in gilt, copper and silver takazogan, signed with a kakihan.LENGTH 3.4 cm WEIGHT 27.6 gCondition: Good condition with some associated wear, the fuchi with remnants lacquer.Provenance: Ex-collection Doctor Karl Florenz (1865-1939). Born in Erfurt, Karl Adolf Florenz was the founder of German Japanese studies and a translator of important Japanese classics. He became known for his work on Japanese history of literature. Florenz lived in Japan from 1888 until the outbreak of World War I. In 1889 he became a lecturer in German language and literature at the Imperial University of Tokyo, and in 1891 a full professor of German literature and comparative linguistics. In 1899, he became the first foreigner to be awarded the highest Japanese scholarly degree (Bungaku-Hakushi) for his translation of the Nihon shoki.