Inro
Category
Objets de vertu
Date
Unknown
Materials
Silver
Measurements
50 mm (Length)
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 437237
Summary
A Japanese silver match box with sunrays and chrysanthemum Imperial mon. Part of set with cigarette case 437236 (BEL/V/15) Made by Miyamoto Shoko, a prominent Tokyo firm of silversmiths founded in 1880 and still in business. They were and are suppliers to the imperial court, which implies that this box and the cigarette case were imperial gifts. A sun rising over the sea was often used as part of the 'branding' of Japan during the first half of C.20th - the 'land of the rising sun'. The Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito (1901–89) visited the British royal family in 1921, and Edward, Prince of Wales, reciprocated by visiting Japan in 1922. These gifts may have dated from this time.