花草蟷螂蒔絵色紙箱|Shikishi (square calligraphy paper) Box with Design of Flowers and Praying Mantis

Unknown

second half of the19th century · Lacquered wood with gold, silver takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, cutout gold foil application, mother-of-pearl inlay on black lacquer ground · Asian Art

Writing boxes were produced in large numbers from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century—a testament to the rise of literacy in Japan. As is typical of such boxes, the interior of this piece has a different but related design and holds an inkstone and other implements for writing and ink making. The box’s surface, richly decorated with an image of a praying mantis beneath a basket of strawberry geraniums, is typical of the art of the Meiji period. In Japanese lacquers intended for domestic use, pearl shell plays a secondary role in the decoration; here, it outlines the edges of the flower basket.

Artist

Unknown

Date

second half of the19th century

Medium

Lacquered wood with gold, silver takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, cutout gold foil application, mother-of-pearl inlay on black lacquer ground

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913