Rectangular tebako decorated in the style of Shibata Zeshin, Japan, Meiji-Taisho period Made of lacquered wood with a ro iro background decorated in iroe takamaki-e with sword mounts, four tsuba and two kozuka handles. On the lid a tsuba imitating suaka decorated with a farmer smoking a pipe and stroking a dog, another one representing sparrows dancing the suzume odori (from the legend "the sparrow with the cut tongue"), on the small sides, a tsuba with Tôbôsaku holding a peach, a dish of peaches at his feet, then two kozuka, one decorated with an elegant hiragana calligraphy imitating the gold hirazogan - めで度 - "medetashi", the other decorated with Raijin (or Raiden), god of thunder and lightning. On the long sides, a kozuka with lily decoration and a tsuba depicting the sennin Chôkwarô and the sennin Bashikô (Ma shi Huang in Chinese) with a putative engraved signature of Hidetoshi, on the other side a tsuba with decoration of the legend of Bumbuku chagama (the enchanted kettle) and a kozuka with decoration of Shoki on a thatched roof above an oni. Silver mounting around the lid and the box. Small chips and scratches. 13 x 24.3 x 19.8 cm Provenance: Sotheby's label November 18, 1999, #1230. One can compare this box and the previous one which presents a very similar decoration, two of the kozuka and one of the tsuba are even found on both boxes, which could suggest a mold. A few subtle details differentiate them despite everything, differences in proportions, a silver mounting on one and not on the other, a tsuba that is shared between the lid and the box, the profile of the molding around the boxes and the size of the gold parcels used for the hirame background. Private collection from Paris - lots 78 to 127, 219 and 220