Description A PAIR OF FINE KANAMONO (POUCH FITTINGS) DEPICTING EMMA-O AND BENKEIJapan, late 19th century, Meiji period (1868-1912)The pouch fittings of circular form, each mounted to a gold plate and made from shibuichi, one in sunken relief depicting Benkei reading his scroll, the other in gilt and bronze takazogan with a courtesan of hell pouring tea for Emma-O. The mounts with stamps and one mounted to a chainDIAMETER 3.6 cmCondition: Very good condition, minor wear, mostly to the gilt.Provenance: The Strong National Museum of Play, accession number 78.15315 A and 78.15315 B (lacquered to the back). One with label 'JH I' to the reverse. Margaret Woodbury Strong (1897-1969) grew up in a prosperous family of collectors. Her interests ranged so widely that by 1960 she had amassed more than 27,000 collectible items and works of art. The vast majority of her collections related in some way to play and as her accumulation grew, Margaret planned a museum to house her collection. It eventually opened to the public in 1982, and grew dramatically over the following decades, expanding its collections, facilities, and resources, now spanning over 285,000 square feet. Today, the Strong National Museum of Play (known as just The Strong Museum or simply The Strong) is the only collections-based museum in the world devoted solely to the study of play.