Toba On His Mule.inro Style Of Ritsuo.japan 18th Century.

Inro with 4 squares decorated with Toba riding his mule, on the reverse a rooster under a bamboo. Toba, the rooster and the bamboo are inlaid with mother-of-pearl and lacquered with gold powder on a background of red lacquer in slight relief. The mule is inlaid with pewter. This style of inlay is from Ogawa Haritsu (Ritsuo) who was active in Japan at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th. Interesting detail, the kirikane inlays are in pewter which is unusual, usually they are always in silver or gold. The simplicity of the decor, the sobriety of the materials, the quality of the thick lacquer, its lasting solidity despite use intensive and the use of tin kirikane make us think of this inro from the beginning of the 18th century or the end of the 17th. It is attributable to Ritsuo. No signature while late copies by this artist are almost always signed. Good condition, a single chip on one side (see photo) wear from use. From the mule the details have disappeared, only the silhouette remains, the tin being eaten away by the centuries. It is a venerable object, which is the dean of late ostentatious inros. 81x51x25mm.