The sparrow shell Suzumegai (title on object) A comparison of Genroku poems and shells (series title) Genroku kasen kaiawase (series title on object), Box of black lacquered woven straw filled with lucky symbols. Next to it an opened bird cage with two sparrows flying away. The image refers to a fairy tale about an old man who is rewarded with a treasure by a sparrow. The hat in the treasury could make the person wearing it invisible. The shell to which the title refers is depicted in the fan-shaped cartouche. With two poems, bird in a cage, Katsushika Hokusai (mentioned on object), Japan, 1821, paper, polishing, h 199 mm ⊙ w 178 mm.