A JAPANESE THREE-CASE LACQUER INRO MEIJI 1868-1912 Decorated in silver and gold takamaki-e and nashiji on a black roiro ground, one side with Fukurokuju depicted with his distinctive elongated forehead, gazing upwards and holding a long staff, signed and after a design by Isen'in Hoin Eishin (1775-1828), the other side with a red sun rising from behind clouds, signed and after a design by Kano Seisen'in (1796-1846), with a paper label for the Tomkinson Collection 573, 7.5cm. Provenance: the collection of Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921). Then the collection of an English gentleman, acquired from Spink. Cf. M Tomkinson, A Japanese Collection, p.16, no.573, where Tomkinson lists and describes this very piece. Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921) Michael Tomkinson was a wealthy businessman who made his fortune in the carpet-making industry in Kidderminster by buying the patent rights to the revolutionary Axminster spool loom. He started collecting Japanese art in 1878, purchasing ivories, lacquer, inros, swords, ceramics, bronzes, textiles and woodblock prints and displaying them in a purpose-built gallery at his manor house, Franche Hall. After his death, his collection was auctioned off in 1921- 1922 at Glendining & Co and pieces can now be seen at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Museum and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.