[60] Fine Japanese Boxwood Tonkotsu Tobacco Box Carved as a Rope Bound Bale of Rice being Nibbled by Rats their Eyes inlaid with Horn Signed in rectangular reserve 19th Century
s i z e : 6 cm high, 6.5 cm wide, 4.5 cm deep – 2¼ ins high, 2½ ins wide, 1¾ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Belgian collection Suspended tobacco containers made of hard materials were known as Tonkotsu and were originally intended for outdoor use to protect tobacco from the elements when carried by Samurai training in the field, or by hunters and farmers. At the beginning of the Edo period (1603–1868) tobacco was an expensive and coveted product valued for its perceived medicinal properties. In the 18th century smoking became more refined and fashionable accessories began to be made for the aZuent merchant classes, and these townsmen adopted the rural tonkotsu for urban use giving the container a new stylistic function through elaborate carving and designs that could convey the wearer’s personal taste. In the towns it became important to have a tasteful assemblage of a pipe case, ojime or slide bead, and tobacco box or pouch and it was the combination of these elements that defined the wearer’s aesthetic, not the quality of each individual object, which today is so important for the modern collector.