Japanese Hand-painted Treen Nesting Eggs Set with Butterfly, c. 1920s doodles Aside from missing bit along

Aside from missing bit along front bottom edge

and adhered to the back of the frame is a handwritten note translating the meaning of the central element--a series of letters

and believe he dates to the earlyish 20th century

as noted--I've photographed it in a few different lighting situations to try to give a good sense

Japanese Hand-painted Treen Nesting Eggs Set with Butterfly, c. 1920s doodles Aside from missing bit alongI've had just a couple of sets of Japanese wooden nesting eggs before and, as with treen apples, also made in Japan and to which they are close kin, I always keep an eye out for them, though they are rarer than apples to find. C. 1920s I believe, with the shells of each egg progressively thinner as they get smaller; rare to find a set of these with all of the eggs in tact! (And indeed, one half of the smallest here was found taped together so I