This image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence
This image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Large wooden inro, lacquered, complete with ojime and netsuke, Japanese
An inro is a decorative container. It carries items such as medicine boxes or tobacco from the sash of a kimono. A kimono is a traditional Japanese dress. Inro were worn with carved toggles called netsuke. They were considered objects of status. This beautiful box is made of a lacquered wood. A mother-of-pearl inlay depicts cherry blossom leaves.
The box pulls apart forming four separate receptacles and lid. A cord runs through two side tubes. Attached to the cord is a large blue bead called an ojime. These were often intricately carved. They were made from glass, tortoiseshell, ivory, coral, silver, gold and other precious materials. They are highly collectable. This ojime may have been substituted for an original carved version at some point.
Related people
Details
- Category:
- Asian Medicine
- Object Number:
- A645068
- Materials:
- cord, glass, mother-of-pearl, pewter, wood
- Measurements:
-
overall netsuke: 50 mm 45 mm,
- type:
- ojime
- taxonomy:
-
- furnishing and equipment
- container - receptacle
- sagemono
- visual and verbal communication
- sculpture
- bead - pierced object
- credit:
- Glendining
Cite this page
Rights
We encourage the use and reuse of our collection data.
Data in the title, made, maker and details fields are released under Creative Commons Zero
Descriptions and all other text content are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence
Download
Download catalogue entry as json
Download 
manifest IIIF
Our records are constantly being enhanced and improved, but please note that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information shown on this website.
