KOMA KANSAI: AN UNUSUAL GOLD-LACQUER SINGLE-CASE INRO By a member of the Koma Kansai lineage, signed Kansai 寛哉 Japan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) The small single-case inro of upright form, with a fine kinji ground and lacquered in relief with a bundle of brushwood on each side, adorned with many kirigane flakes, the ends visible on the bottom and top. The front with a large axe on one side and a foliate maple branch on the other, in gold and iro-e takamaki-e, the cord runners of silver simulating bamboo, and the interior of roiro, lacquered in togidashi maki-e with maple leaves on a stream. Signed within an oval reserve KANSAI. HEIGHT 5.4 cm Condition: Excellent condition with only very minor wear. Provenance: Ex-collection Ted Wrangham, collection no. 1475 (old label inside the inro), purchased from Terry Wingrove in 1980. Edward A. 'Ted' Wrangham (1928-2009) formed one of the most important collections of Japanese Art in modern times. His reference book 'The Index of Inro Artists' (1995) is considered one of the most important English-language studies on Japanese lacquer ever published. This quite unusual and very attractive inro most likely illustrates the Taketori monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo-cutter).