Thank you very much for viewing this item on Mercari. This item is an antique black lacquered and gold maki-e food container from the mid to late Edo period (around the end of the Edo period), from the collection of an old samurai family. A "hokai" (行器) is a wooden, lacquered container used to transport or store food, and has been used since the Heian period. It was used on occasions such as weddings and baby celebrations. For reference, the dimensions of this item are approximately 40 cm in height, 34 cm in diameter for the top lid, and 110 cm in diameter around the middle of the body. Regarding the condition, due to the passage of approximately 150 to 280 years, there is some fading of the gold maki-e, damage to the black lacquer in various places, and discoloration of the metal fittings, so the condition is not very good. Please be aware of this beforehand. Also, there are traces of later repainting, including on the bottom of the inner base, so please refrain from purchasing if you are looking for a perfect item. We hope you understand the nature of this antique, which has survived the ages and presents itself in this form today as a testament to its history. We hope that those who are interested in or have an interest in such Edo period high-ranking samurai and daimyo items will consider these explanations and make their purchase accordingly. Please be careful as there are many people who are illegally reprinting and falsely listing items from Mercari sellers, as well as fraudulent websites.