JAPAN, EDO PERIOD (MID-LATE 19TH CENTURY), SIGNED ZESHIN (SHIBATA ZESHIN; 1807-1891)

Zeshin produced a number of inro, netsuke, and other objects in techniques and styles derived from sword fittings, but kozukas are comparatively rare. For a similarly lacquered copper kozuka in the collection of the Nezu Museum, see Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum), Shibata Zeshin no shikko, urushi-e, kaiga (Shibata Zeshin: From Lacquer Arts to Paintings), exhibition catalogue, Tokyo: Nezu Bijutsukan, p.43, no.43.