El Cid Gallery

Inrō

inro, Japanese inrō, is a traditional Japanese case for holding small objects and worn on the girdle. Because traditional Japanese garb lacked pockets, objects were often carried by hanging them from the obi, or sash.These objects, probably originally imported from China, were used as containers for seals and medicine. About the 16th century they were adapted by the Japanese for holding tobacco, confections, and other small items and became a part of the traditional Japanese male costume.

Inro are generally oval or cylindrical in section and usually measure 5 cm in width and from 6.4 cm to 10 cm in length. They have two to five compartments. The compartments are held together by a cord that is laced through cord runners down one side, under the bottom, and up the opposite side. The inro is secured by a bead (ojime), and kept from slipping through the kimono sash by a netsuke, a small carved object at the end of the cords.

Early inro were made of a variety of materials, including wood, ivory, and bone and were usually covered with plain black lacquer. After the middle of the 17th century the more elaborate techniques of carved, painted, and gold lacquerwork were commonly used, making these objects some of the finest examples of Japanese craftsmanship in the Tokugawa (Edo) period (1603–1867).

Inrō, like the ojime and netsuke they were associated with, evolved over time from strictly utilitarian articles into objects of high art and immense craftsmanship.