A RARE LACQUERED WOOD SUZURIBAKO (WRITING BOX) DEPICTING A SHISHI AND BUTTERFLYJapan, 19th centuryOf rectangular form, supported on a short spreading foot, the box with recessed gold fundame edges, the exterior neatly incised with a floral lozenge diaper. One side of the box with a metal-handled drawer. The top of the cover with a shaped sunken panel bearing a wood ground finely decorated in gold and silver takamaki-e as well as gold foil with a prancing shishi rearing its head toward a fluttering butterfly, the lion well detailed with scrolling tail and mane as well as reverse-painted glass eyes.The interior of the cover bearing a roiro-mura-nashiji ground decorated in gold and silver takamaki-e with a leafy peony spray with elegantly furled petals. The interior of the box bearing a richly gold and silver-sprinkled roiro ground, the baseboard fitted with a rectangular inkstone (suzuri) and silver waterdropper (suiteki) in the form of a butterfly.SIZE 13.5 x 24.8 x 14.4 cmCondition: Good condition with minor wear, flaking and losses to lacquer and gold foil, particularly to the shishi’s back, minor age cracks.