GIZUMOJAPAN ART ATLAS

INDEPENDENT LOOKING GUIDE · ABOUT 2 MINUTES

A small case with more than one scene

Case (Inrō) with a Fox from the Kyōgen Play "The Fox Hunter" (Tsurigitsune) (obverse); Haystacks and Stream from the Kyōgen Play "Hakuzosu" (reverse)

Let the object’s edges and joins interrupt your reading.

Case (Inrō) with a Fox from the Kyōgen Play "The Fox Hunter" (Tsurigitsune) (obverse); Haystacks and Stream from the Kyōgen Play "Hakuzosu" (reverse)
Case (Inrō) with a Fox from the Kyōgen Play "The Fox Hunter" (Tsurigitsune) (obverse); Haystacks and Stream from the Kyōgen Play "Hakuzosu" (reverse) · 57.46
Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 1.0 · Unaltered source JPEG.

Look first

  1. The supplied photograph shows two views side by side. First compare the long vertical surface lines with the curved outlines of the figures, plants and stream.
  2. Follow a horizontal join across each view. Notice where the decoration carries across it: this is an image on an object with depth and divisions.
  3. Study the border and cord, then return to the scene. How does knowing that the support is a small case change the scale you imagine?

Put the format in context

The source records a nineteenth-century inrō by Shibata Zeshin, with gold and colored lacquer on wood. Its title connects the two sides to different kyōgen plays: The Fox Hunter and Hakuzosu. At 5.72 × 6.99 × 2.54 cm, the case occupies a very different scale from a print or hanging scroll. The full materials field also records associated components and signatures; those labels should not be collapsed into a claim that one maker made every part.

A question for your next visit

Compare the lacquer case with the bamboo sword guard. In each, where does decoration acknowledge an edge or an opening?

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Look across works

Check the original record and image
Attribution
Shibata Zeshin
Date label
19th century
Materials
Gold and colored lacquer on wood Signed: Zeshin Ojime: carved wooden dragon (signed: Ichiryūsai Furuta) Netsuke: ceramic figure of Kaduzōsu (signed: Eiraku)
Dimensions
2 1/4 x 2 3/4 x 1 in. (5.72 x 6.99 x 2.54 cm)
Accession number
57.46

Museum record ↗ · Original image ↗

Museum credit line: Purchase, Gifts, Bequests, and Funds from various donors, by exchange, 1957

Source metadata date: 2022-10-20T04:55:06.267Z
Record/image retrieved: 2026-10-06T09:18:11Z

The looking prompts are GIZUMO’s own observations and questions, not statements of artist intention. Catalogue facts are from the linked source. Guides reviewed 6 October 2026; the collection is a dated snapshot, not live display or availability information.