An antique Japanese Yosegi Kobako (marquetry personal drawer box) from the Hakone region made of various natural colored woods with a Kusunoki (Camphor) wood structure and drawer backs. The expert craftsmanship is quite evident by how the front marquetry design flows seamlessly across all of the drawers, the sides, the top and the back of the piece. Having a Kaleidoscope of intricate designs, the variations in the patterns include circular medallions (actually an optical illusion of an eight sided box), bamboo weaving, pinwheels, six pointed stars, Burberry plaid patterns, and cross section feathered arrows.

The front frame shows directional arrows pointing from right to left and from top to bottom leading one's eye to the key fret base visually forming the foundation of this box.

Yosegi is a centuries old traditional Japanese craft that began in the late Edo era. The intricate design is formed by combining different natural colored cut rods on wood by gluing and binding them together to make a block of the desired pattern. After the glue has dried, the bound wood is planed cross grain to make sheets of the parquetry geometric pattern that are applied to the functional wooden crafts and art objects. The final result are one of a kind masterpieces that epitomizes Wabisabi (the art of understated beauty).

Age: Late Meiji-Taisho (1910-1920)

Dimensions: 10 5/8" Wide by 10 3/8" High by 7 7/8" Deep