Mixed Metals - Shakudō - Hinged Box - Very Rare - Meiji Japan - NOGAWA Signed

Description

A fine and rare, mixed metals, hinged lid box dating from the Meiji period, Japan and with two marks: the Nogawa workshop and the artist.
Exquisitely hand crafted with an inner lining of gold creating a lip for the lid.
On the top is a finely engraved the image of a sailing ship and its little skiff upon delicate, quiet waves. This engraving is inlaid with gold, silver and blue-black shakudō.
This is signed with the mark of Nogawa Company of Kyoto on the bottom and a Kanji artist's signature is engraved at the lower left of the lid.
Age: circa 1890s - 1912, Meiji Period
Size: approximately 1 5/8" x 2 3/8" x 3/4"H
Condition: The box is in excellent condition with age appropriate metal discoloration.
The workshop of Noboru Nogawa was founded in 1825. Based in Kyoto, Nogawa acted as both  a manufacturer and a commisioner for his very popular shop at 35 Shijo Otabicho, as well as for his showrooms in the Kyoto Hotel and the  Miyako Hotel-- the city’s most exclusive  hotels of the era.
Nogawa exhibited the splendid and elegantly crafted work of his factory at major international expositions from the 1890s through 1910, becoming known worldwide for fine chiseling and inlay work in classic Japanese designs.