Lot Essay
The combination of autumn plants and the moon on this unusual set suggests that it was intended for moon-viewing expeditions in the 8th and 9th months. The set of bamboo panpipes on the top of the sake-bottle is inscribed with the names of the twelve notes in the traditional Japanese scale, ranging from ichi (approximately the D above middle C) up to kami (C sharp). James Orange was evidently told that the box was made in Kaga Province in the middle of the 18th century. While this information cannot be definitely proved, Kaga was from the 17th century the home of the Igarashi family of lacquerers who worked for the Maeda daimyo.