A three-case inro in the style of Ogata Korin. To the front, Fukurokuju is standing, his body inlaid in pewter, head in shell, staff and fan lacquered in gold. The verso is decorated with a crane in shell and a deer in pewter. All are set against a gold ground. The internal compartments are lacquered in gold.
As a style produced across at least three centuries, it is hard to know which actually came from the Korin studio and which are copies of a popular style.
In this case, the gold ground with the sprinkled gold flecks, wear to the edges and solid patina in places, this is clearly much earlier than the numerous late 19th/20th century revival pieces, which tend to have a solid gold ground and lack the subtle sprinkled gold.
I believe this is in the style of Korin but dating solidly in the 18th century.
Unsigned
18th century
Height: 6cm
Width: 5.2cm
Depth: 1.9cm
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