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 a man's 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.
Many inro were made of lacquer because it was highly suitable for storing medicines. Lacquer is the sap from the tree Rhus verniciflua that grows mainly in East Asia. The sap was processed, and the lacquer worker would then apply it in many thin layers to the base material. This is a rare example of a comparatively early inro that dates from the 17th century. At this time most inro decoration reflected the styles and techniques used on lacquer at that time. The chrysanthemum and kiri (paulownia tree) crest you see here were widely used on lacquer in the late 1500s and early 1600s. Much of the gold powder has been lost, probably because the inro kept rubbing against the body of the man who wore it.