Kokusai manju

A ryusa-style manju in stag antler, the surface pierced in a stylised quadrifoliate design, the upper side with a central roundel decorated with a swirling image of an archaic rain dragon. The reverse has two mon, one of pine folding around the edge, the other with bamboo. The central himotoshi is enclosed within a stylised plum blossom, the three combining as the Three Friends of Winter, or Shochikubai (松竹梅).

Kokusai
Circa 1860

Signed within  a square cartouche: Koku
Diameter: 4.1cms