A gold-lacquer and ivory inlaid dancerBy Shibayama Eisei, Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century
Standing, looking down to her right while clutching a closed metal in each hand, her kimono bearing a rich kinji ground, lacquered in gold takamaki-e, kirikane, okibirame and togidashi maki-e with irises and other plants growing beside meandering streams, her sumptuous obi fitted with a shibuichi obidome in the form of a chrysanthemum blossom and similarly decorated with stylized flowers and fragmented shippo-tsunagi (linked-cash) designs, her head, hands and feet of ivory, her elaborately coiffed hair adorned with a comb and enamel flower; signed on the base in a mother-of-pearl tablet Eisei. 31.8cm (12½in) high.