A SMALL JAPANESE CLOISONNE ENAMEL BOX AND COVER, KOBAKO

MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY OR LATER

Of circular convex form, the body and lid decorated with a design of butterflies fluttering amongst many flowerheads on a baby blue ground, 8.5cm. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Richard Gordon Smith (1858-1918) and thence by descent. Gordon Smith was an English traveller, sportsman and naturalist who lived in Japan at the turn of the century, recording his experience in his "Ill-Spelled Diaries" and transcribing traditional myths which he later published in "Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan" (1908). Entries from his diaries were later published in "Travels in the Land of the Gods: The Japan Diaries of Richard Gordon Smith" (1986).