Untitled

Unknown

19th century · Red lacquer on bamboo with sprinkled gold powder · Asian Art

This box probably held a tea whisk. The designs are of the autumn grass hagi (bush clover), susuki (acanthus plants) with dew, and bamboo blinds. A half-moon is encrusted in pewter on the black-lacquered lid. These motifs evoke an episode in Chapter 10 of the Tale of Genji, "The Sacred Tree" (Sakaki), in which Genji visits the Rokujo Lady at Nonomiya Shrine before she leaves Kyoto to accompany her princess at the Ise Shrine.

Artist

Unknown

Date

19th century

Medium

Red lacquer on bamboo with sprinkled gold powder

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936