Antique Japanese Lacquer Inro 4-Case - Gold Maki-e Rice Sheaf and Oxen - with Agate Bead Description: This four-case inro was carried as part of a samurai or merchant's everyday dress, suspended from the obi by its silk cord, with a banded agate bead (ojime) sliding along the cord to draw the cases tight. One face is decorated in gold hira-maki-e with iro-e (polychrome) accents depicting a bound sheaf of rice or reed grasses beneath a sickle, surrounded by small clusters of cherry blossom, a harvest-season motif rendered with delicate linework in gold, grey, and red lacquer. The opposite face carries a sumi-e-style composition of two oxen in black and russet tones, a subject drawn from the zodiac and the long tradition of bovine painting in Japanese art. No signature or seal observed on the lacquer surface. A genuine piece of Edo-Meiji lacquer artistry, complete with its original cord and bead. Item Specifics: Type: Inro (4-case) with Ojime Construction: Hand-applied gold hira-maki-e with polychrome (iro-e) lacquer accents Material: Lacquer, Banded Agate (ojime) Motif: Rice sheaf and cherry blossom (front); two oxen, zodiac motif (reverse) Country of Origin: Japan Period: Edo to Meiji period, 19th century (estimate, not laboratory certified) Condition: Antique condition with age-related lacquer lifting and fine cracking at several case seams, consistent with humidity exposure. Cord and bead intact and functional. No losses to the maki-e decoration itself. Dimensions: approx. 6.5cm (H) x 5.5cm (W)