KOBAKO Rectangular box with brace-shaped corners (irisumi), in kinji lacquer, decorated in hiramaki-e and usuniku-takamaki-e gold, kirigane and togidashi, the lid and sides decorated with a scene in contnu, depicting two kimono hanging from a thread hanging between two cherry blossom trees, at the edge of a stream winding around the box, the interior and base in nashiji lacquer. With a wooden storage box. Japan, 19th century. A GOLD LACQUERED IRISUMI KOBAKO, JAPAN, 19TH CENTURY. DIM. 4,5 X 8,9 X 7,3 CM (1 3/4 X 3 1/2 X 2 7/8 IN.) PROVENANCE: The Harriet Szechenyi Collection, Bonham's, 8 November 2011, n° 394. NOTE The theme of the hanging kimono, tagasode, literally 'whose sleeves are these', is recurrent in Japanese iconography. The theme comes from a classic poem in the 10th-century anthology Kokin Wakashu (Collection of Japanese Poems of Ancient and Modern Times).