A mixed-metal-inlaid bronze box
Meiji period (late 19th century), signed Shigeaki (Morimoto Shigeaki) on lid and Ando Katsuaki sei (made by Ando Katsuaki) and Okyo Taneyosh sen (carved by Hata Taneyoshi) on base, engraved dedicatory inscription on underside of lid, including the names of donors who were his colleagues in Japan, such as the British architect Josaiah Conder (1852-1920); the Irish military adviser and journalist Captain Frank Brinkley (1841-1912); and the British mining engineer John Milne (1850-1913).
The rectangular box on four bracket feet, the lid finely inlaid in gold, silver, shakudo and copper with a pair of doves and blossoming magnolia, peony and cherry branches, details finely chiseled, the sides designed with panels of seasonal flowers by a stream and faceted corners with a paulownia and sixteen-petal chrysanthemum crest of the Imperial Household
5½ x 7¼ x 3 1/8in. (14 x 18.4 x 7.9cm.)

Provenance
From a Private Collection
A gift to Henry Dyer (1848-1918) in Japan, July 1882