Footnotes

• 柴船図螺鈿蒔絵印籠　銘「是真写」　
  附　七夕図蒔絵木製箱根付　銘「是真」　明治時代
  
  The theme of a boat laden with brushwood floating on the water relates to a poem by the Buddhist monk Jakuren (circa 1139-1202) included in the Shinkokinshu anthology (1205), Book 2:
  
  Kurete yuku / haru no minato wa / shiranedomo / kasumi ni otsuru / Uji no shibafune
  
  Where has the spring gone? / By the harbour / in the mist / a boat laden with brushwood / drifts away down Uji River.
  
  According to the art historian and lacquer researcher Takao Yo, Shibata Zeshin made at least four inro of this design, all of them based on an inro by Koma Bunsai (1811-1871) which was itself based on a supposed original by Hon'ami Koetsu (1558-1637). One of the four Zeshin inro belonged to the Matsuzawa (a wealthy merchant family), while the second belonged to the Momiyama family (a long line of high-ranking samurai bureaucrats) and both were accompanied by a tomobako. A third, owned by the metal worker Kagawa Katsuhiro (1853-1917), was sold at auction in 1917 and is now believed to be in the Irving collection. This inro was signed Zeshin on the base and had a tomobako, like the example offered here, bearing an inscription Hon'ami-ke zo, Koetsu saku, Zeshin sha. (1)
  
  Notes:
  
  1. Takao Yo, Maki-e hakubutsukan, sakuhin tenjishitsu, Koma Kansai (Maki-e Museum, the Exhibition Gallery, Koma Kansai), http://makie-museum.com/skansai.html#bunsai