Drum-shaped saké container with gold inlay design

Kamakura period handscrolls indicate that large drum-shaped barrels were used to pour saké into more ordinarily shaped saké jars at banquets. Small examples such as this one would have been used to pour saké directly from the bottle into a guest’s cup. The body of the work has a zelkova wood skin that has been dyed and coated with transparent lacquer to reveal its wood grain. The drumhead was coated in black lacquer with chinkin sunken gold technique used on half the surface to show grapes and squirrels while the other half shows quail and millet along with peonies and butterflies.