inro
/ˈɪnrəʊ
/noun (plural same or inros)
An ornamental box with compartments for items such as seals and medicines, worn suspended from a girdle as part of traditional Japanese dress.These ornaments were originally made to provide a way to secure tobacco cases, purses, or inro (medicine containers), which fashionable Japanese men suspended on silk cords at their waists starting about 1700....
- Wearing inro and netsuke became a part of the past for the upper classes and samurai.
- But the emphasis of his artistic and artisan production was on painted screens and on all kinds of lacquerware utensils - inro, boxes, cups, panels and screens.
Origin
Early 17th century: from Japanese inrō, from in 'seal' + rō 'basket'.