Two inlaid iron cigarette cases


By the Komai Company of Kyoto, Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th centuryThe first, converted into a cosmetic case, worked in typical gold and silver overlay with snow-laden bamboo leaves on one side and Mount Fuji on the reverse, all reserved on a plain matt black damascened ground, the inside inset with two engraved compartments and a mirror, the outside of the hinged cover attached with a gold chain and decorated with a gold monogram with the initials AHW, the same initials inscribed in katakana script to its left, signed on the interior with gold seal Nihonkoku Kyoto no ju Komai sei beneath a dragonfly, 9.5cm x 7.3cm (3¾in x 2 5/8in); the second worked in typical gold overlay with a peacock perched on a gnarled branch of pine draped diagonally across the cover, the interior plain and inscribed with the initials and date M.B. 1930, the reverse inlaid with three chidori (plovers or dotterels) on a plain matt black damascened ground, signed with a seal Nihonkoku Kyoto no ju Komai sei beneath a dragonfly, 8cm x 12.2cm (3 1/8in x 4¾in), with a wooden storage box. (3).