The metal-work which comes from Japan has reached us in great variety. There has been no need for the traveller or collector to search the island for curios to bring over to this country, for the commercial instincts of a new race of Japanese merchants have poured out a wealth of antiques, collected from the native villages; with these and modern imitations they have gladly supplied the demand of the Western world. In this way attention has been called to the products of that country where craftsmen have gone on hammering copper and brass, and inlaying the metal in highly decorated patterns in silver and gold for so many years. Reference has already been made to the rare temple pieces and sets which have been looted or purchased from Asiatic countries, so many of which are of rare cloissonné enamels. Some of these of Japanese origin are mentioned in Chapter XIV. Of the minor bronzes, replicas of temple relics, there are many beautiful koros or incense burners. Other bronzes serve the purpose of ornament in the Western countries to which they have found their way. In Fig. 68 is shown a beautiful bronze. The sacred carp is inlaid with gold and silver and is exceptionally well finished. The pair, of which it is one, came from Japan about thirty years ago, and are of much finer workmanship than many of the more modern replicas. Household requisites as well as ornamental treasures have been made with care by hammer and engraving tool into things of beauty as well as usefulness. The household requirements of the Japanese are limited in number, but in the entertainment of her friends the Japanese lady is able to cause envy among her Western sisters because of the beauty of her kettles and brazier. The kettle shown in Fig. 66 is one of a toilet set of hammered brass, engraved with badges and foliage. It was probably produced early in the nineteenth century, before Western commercial ideas began to invade the workshops of Old Japan. In conjunction with such kettles (the Japanese name of a kettle is _yuwakashi_) metal bowls were used, the water being poured over the hands of the fair Japanese and her guests by attendants, who also held the bowl to catch the dropping water.