Article: Did inro come from the West?(men's pouches that are hung from a belt)

Japanese inro [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATES I, IV OMITTED] are small compartmented boxes that hung from men's sash belts.(1) They were used as containers for ointment or medicines and are usually decorated with lacquer, gold and silver pigments, or gold and silver powder or foil. When they were first used, around 1600, inro were usually paired with a leather pouch. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the pouch no longer appeared. An inro indicated that the wearer was a dandy.

It has generally been believed that inro originated in China. However, the painting of 1524 by Lorenzo Lotto shown in Plate III suggests a European origin. The object hanging from Saint ...

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