© The Card Case Forum, 2012
This lady’s Japanese steel case is ornately decorated using a technique called komai. The case depicts on one side a Japanese village and on the cranes flying over a river edges with irises. The case dates from the late 19th century.
The Komai family of Kyoto
The distinctive style of the Komai family of Kyoto defined metalwork in the Meiji Period. The Komai Company was purportedly founded in 184, but it was from 1865 under the direction of Komai Otojiro that the company began to make the wares for which it is famous. Komai Otojiro and his son of the same name, specialised in the intricate inlaid work of gold and silver set into iron, and promoted their workshop as the ‘pioneer of damascene work’.
| stag antler |
| tiffany silver |
| carved ivory |
| carved sandalwood |
| cloisonne |
| gold & enamel |
| gold filigree |
| japanese lacquer |
| mop & turquoise |
| persian silver |
| red-felt birchbark |
| red-stained ivory |
| birch-bark |
| gold by asprey |
| indian filigree |
| irish bog oak |
| japanese ivory |
| lukutin lacquer |
| palais royal |
| papier-mache |
| russian nephrite |
| silesian wire-work |
| chequer ware |
| faberge enamel |
| gem painted pearl |
| gold & enamel |
| ivory & lacquer |
| japanese lacquer |
| japanese lacquer |
| mother-of-pearl |
| silver castle top |
| tortoiseshell |
| chalcedony |
| elephant tooth |
| faberge enamel |
| inlaid lacquer |
| japanese ivory |
| red sealing wax |
| russian cloisonne |
| seaweed ware |
| tiffany enamel |
| tiffany silver |
| tunbridge ware |
| bamboo |
| chinese enamel |
| chinese silk |
| derbyshire marble |
| european ivory |
| french straw work |
| japanese bronze |
| japanese komai |
| lukutin lacquer |
| red-stained ivory |
| shibayama |
| spiers papier mache |
| buckskin |
| faberge gold |
| leather |
| mauchline ware |
| porcelain |
| rock crystal |