葵御所車蒔絵料紙箱|Document Box (Ryōshibako) with Court Carriage and Wild Ginger

Unknown

late 18th–early 19th century · Lacquered wood with gold and silver hiramaki‑e, togidashimaki-e, and e-nashiji (“pear-skin picture”), with mother‑of‑pearl inlay on black ground · Asian Art

This document box is embellished with an ox carriage (Gosho-guruma) that was used by the emperor and empress, and also by aristocrats. Gosho, meaning the Imperial Palace, is an honorific that extended to aristocrats. Court carriages are sometimes also referred to as Genji-guruma, as they were often depicted in paintings associated with the literary classic, The Tale of Genji. The imagery here of the cart and wild ginger refers to the Tale’s ninth chapter, “Leaves of Wild Ginger” (Aoi).

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 18th–early 19th century

Medium

Lacquered wood with gold and silver hiramaki‑e, togidashimaki-e, and e-nashiji (“pear-skin picture”), with mother‑of‑pearl inlay on black ground

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913