Collections: Asian Art: Writing Case, Box and Lid

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Writing Case, Box and Lid

• Medium: Lacquered and painted wood
• Place Made: Japan
• Dates: 19th century
• Period: Edo
• Collections: Asian Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Asian Galleries, The Arts of Japan, 2nd Floor
• Accession Number: 06.337
• Credit Line: Gift of Robert B. Woodward
• Image: Overall, 06.337_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Writing Case, Box and Lid, 19th century. Lacquered and painted wood Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Robert B. Woodward, 06.337 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 06.337_bw.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Writing box and lid (suzuribako) with crane and pine bough design. Rectangular in shape with flattened corners; contains 4 empty interior sections for writing implements, surrounding a central rectangular section containing a worn ink stone; also contained inside is a paulownia leaf-shaped water dropper (possibly pewter) set into a raised and outlined area in the center of one of the four sections. Both box and cover are painted with black lacquer and covered with fine gold flecks; the top of the cover shows two silver and gold cranes standing to the right in a group of 8 upright pine bough tips while a third crane hovers overhead. Inside the cover on a gold ground is a suggested landscape, showing a stream and tiny maple leaves, a scholar on horseback followed by two servants carrying a garment and boxes. All are painted in several colors and black.