SHISHI MENUKI 

A beautiful pair of solid gold menuki. The design is of two shishi, each  holding a peony in its mouth. The eyes are inlayed with shakudo pupils.

The posts on the back of these menuki are in the old style of socket and pin. This reflects an earlier time when menuki also served as mekugi, the pins going thru the tang and tsuka (handle), holding the tsuka on the blade.