O-Daiko are barrel drums played in temples, theatres and at festivals. According to legend a drum was placed at a village gate to sound an alarm during an attack. As the years passed the drum was never used and cockerels and hens took up residence in the drum, and therefore this motif became a symbol of peace and contentment. This has become known as a kankodori [cock on a drum].

A similar example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art which has been attributed to Hayashi Kodenji, is known to have been made by order of the Japanese government for the Vienna Exposition of 1873. Go to http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/501802 and see Fredric T. Schneider, The Art of Japanese Cloisonné Enamel: History, Techniques and Artists, 1600 to the Present, (North Carolina, 2010), p. C-3.

This example is believed to be one of those from the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition. (See black and white image above)

The man behind this collection was an incurable collector who loved art. He was particularly interested in the patina of objects, in multi-coloured bronzes, and in the juxtaposition of media – bronze, enamel and lacquer. He appreciated the details, intricate nature of the decoration and effort required to create each object. His aim was to create a diverse Meiji art collection, of objects created by artisans who were long gone, from a period and country very foreign to his own.