飯塚琅玕斎造　文筥|Document Box (Fubako)

Iizuka Rōkansai

ca. 1920s–30s · Smoked timber bamboo, rattan, lacquer, and gold brocaded silk · Asian Art

This semiformal (gyō) lidded document or letter box by Iizuka Rōkansai, dating probably to the 1930s and made of split smoked bamboo (susudake), is notable for its unusual “double” construction: a background or inner layer of twill plaiting topped by an outer layer of irregular plaiting. On the left side of the box, a wide, thin strip of split bamboo is woven into the outer layer. Rōkansai finished the box with lacquer and added a patina, or “dust” (sabi-tsuke), to the background layer to emphasize the plaited patterns.

Artist

Iizuka Rōkansai

Date

ca. 1920s–30s

Medium

Smoked timber bamboo, rattan, lacquer, and gold brocaded silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Diane Abbey, 2019