Kai-Awase Painted Clamshell Incense Box Late-Edo 19 c.
April 2013 Auction by Far East Asian Art

Kai-awase, made from a relatively large natural clamshell (Jp. hamaguri, Lat. Meretrix lusoria), the interior surfaces of both halves depicting a nearly identical bird-and-flower scene hand-painted in the traditional Yamato-e style, characterized primarily by a predominance of gilt. Late-Edo Period ca. 1850...