Kajikawa - Medicine Case (Inro), early 19th century

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This slender, rectangular medicine box, or Inro, is made of lacquered wood with gold decoration which is presented horizontally.  On one side, a Japanese woman with dark hair and wearing flowing robes, holds a small child who looks over her left shoulder and waves a small hand.  They walk in a field with small hills in the foreground and background. The trunk and slender branch of a tree is just visible to the left of the woman and child.  This tree continues on the reverse side, rising a little taller with more branches.  Under this tree, a man, whose robe is gathered at the waist with a sash, holds a hoe.  He appears to have been digging in the field and has uncovered some sort of object, depicted here in ivory, with slim rays coming from it in gold.  The Inro is comprised of four small trays held together by a string which runs through the sides and are joined at the top by several small beads, or Ojimé, culminating in a rectangular toggle, or netsuke, with what appears to be a carved signature.  

After Kajikawa (Japanese, 1652 - 1724)

Medicine Case (Inro): House on a River, early 19th century

Lacquered wood with gold, silver, and red takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, and togidashimaki-e with cutout gold foil on black lacquer ground; red lacquer netsuke, 9 x 4 cm (3 9/16 x 1 9/16 in.)

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Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.