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This is a particularly fine Shibayama card case. The simple yet striking design is beautifully executed using a variety of hard stones skilfully selected to represent the tones and textures of the creatures they depict.

The obverse shows a frog, moth, spider, butterfly and dragonfly, whilst the reverse shows four various sparrows and a bird of paradise in flight.

The family name Shibayama has become the generic term for a style of decorative inlays of mother-of-pearl and semi-precious stones in ivory or lacquer from the late Edo and early Meiji period (the Meiji period began in 1867).

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