Golden Inro Case, Yongzheng Bowl, and Cinnabar Boxes Lead Margaret Woodbury Strong’s Estate Sale

Slung around the waist of warriors, inro cases were designed during the Edo period in 19th-century Japan to carry small, valuable items. Today, inro cases are rarer and more valuable than the things they once carried. In the Strong Diversions: Property from a Lifetime of Play auction at Hindman, a large Japanese inro case will be available. The gold, red, and black lacquer piece is 15 centimeters long with three smaller compartments. Apart from its gold decoration, the other unique character is its suite of armor shapes. The case is decorated in gold hiramaki-e and takamaki-e. These are the processes used to draw the fine metallic details on the case. The topmost part has a black and red lacquered mask of a tough-looking warrior who wears a helmet. The helmet is decorated with antler-shaped flanges and surmounted by a crest. The bottom case is decorated with an eye-catching coral bead, a carved wood mask-form netsuke, and is signed by the maker, Shokasai. 

This spring sale features a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian works of art, furniture, metalwork, porcelains, scholar’s objects, and textiles. These items once belonged to Margaret Woodbury Strong (1897 – 1969), the founder of The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. A notable lot is a set of three Chinese cinnabar lacquer-covered boxes. The use of cinnabar was popular in China for centuries as a coloring agent for decorative items and jewelry. The biggest box of the three is circular with writhing dragons; the second box is square with details of carved scholars traversing a landscape; and the last is a compact rectangle. Other highlights include a Yongzheng-period bowl, a selection of jade snuff bottles, and a range of a playful animal-form objects. Find the listed items and more on Hindman and register to place a bid.