The Mike and Hiroko Dean Collection

A LACQUER KAGAMIBAKO [MIRROR BOX] AND HIIRE [ASH CONTAINER]
MIRROR BOX, MOMOYAMA PERIOD (LATE 16TH CENTURY); ASH CONTAINER, EDO PERIOD (17TH CENTURY)
The square mirror box, the exterior nashiji ground decorated in gold hiramaki-e and takamaki-e and inlaid in mother-of-pear depicting dragonflies over a windswept willow tree and sprays of bamboo, the interior black lacquer, fundame rims, with a fitted wood box; the circular ash container of ribbed body on three low feet with a cover, decorated in gold hiramaki-e and nashiji on a black ground with camellia, the interior lined with copper, the rim decorated with namban tendril, with a wood box
4 ¼ in. (10.9 cm.) square; 2 ¾ in. (7 cm.) high

Literature:
Mike and Hiroko Dean, Nihon no Shikki Japanese Lacquer - an Exposition (Kyoto, 1984), no. 8 (mirror box)