The inro is a container made up of tiers. Japanese men used them because the traditional Japanese garment, the kimono, had no pockets. From the late 1500s onwards, Japanese men wore the inro suspended from their sash by a silk cord and a netsuke (toggle). They originally used it to hold their seal and ink or a supply of medicines. However, it rapidly became a costly fashion accessory of little or no practical use. Most inro are rectangular with gently curving sides.
Lacquer was most commonly used in the manufacture of inro since it was highly suitable for storing medicines. Lacquer is the sap from the tree Rhus verniciflua that grows mainly in East Asia. After processing, it is applied in many thin layers to a base material. The craft of lacquering, as well as making inro bodies, is highly complex, time-consuming and expensive. This inro is decorated with a dragon among clouds in togidashie (‘brought out by polishing’) lacquer.
Lacquer artists often used paintings as a source for their designs. Furthermore since each main side of an inro resembled the main formats of a painting, a painted design could be adapted with ease. The lacquer artist also often made the lacquer version look like a painting. In this example, the quality of the ink tones and areas of wash that characterise Japanese ink painting, have been simulated in a technique known as sumie togidashie (‘ink painting togidashie’).
From the 1700s onwards, many artists signed the inro they made. This example is signed Jokasai. The Yamada family, which was founded by Joka during the seventeenth century, was one of the great lacquer dynasties. Each subsequent head of the family used the name Joka or Jokasai. As a result, it is very difficult to distinguish between the work of individual artists.