This black lacquer card case was made in Japan – it is decorated with various insects including a grasshopper. It is one of 936 card cases in the Harris collection. They all once belonged to Mrs Idonea French (1880-1964) – a private collector based in Kent. She spent a lifetime collecting small decorative items like scent bottles, gaming counters and mineral samples. Calling or visiting cards were used in the 1700 and 1800s to announce a guest’s arrival but they fell out of favour in the early 1900s. Mrs French purchased card cases from second hand shops and put together an impressive collection of lacquer, silver, mother-of-pearl, wood and tortoiseshell examples.