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.
From the 1700s onwards, many artists signed the inro they made. This example is signed Ogata Korin (1688-1703), together with the title hokkyo (bridge of the law). Korin was a follower and the greatest exponent of the versatile artist and craftsman, Hon’ami Koetsu (1558-1637). Koetsu pioneered a distinctive style of lacquerwork that made use of relatively straightforward techniques of lacquer, with inlays of shell and lead. His designs are usually in silhouette with little or no interior detail. This inro is decorated with inlaid plum blossoms on a gold lacquer ground. The ground is of very fine, dense gold powder, interspersed with larger gold flakes sparingly sprinkled on, a characteristic of Korin’s work. Although a work of the eighteenth century, this inro was probably not the work of Korin himself.