Box with fitted cover
date: label: Date
content: 17th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
notes: label: Label
content: Branches of blossoming plum in contrasting inlays of lead and luminous mother-of-pearl form a continuous design that extends over the sides and lid of this box. Koetsu's (1558&#150;1637) innovations in lacquer designs are well documented. The decoration on this box, however, appears to have been based not on an original design by Koetsu, but on the motifs printed in mica on the covers of the woodblock-printed libretti for No performances that were produced after 1604 by the wealthy merchant and scholar Suminokura Soan (1571&#150;1632), in collaboration with Koetsu. The books displayed in this care are examples of the books, known as Sagabon, published by Soan and often based on Koetsu's calligraphy and designs.
label: Provenance
content: To 1903
label: Provenance
content: Charles Gillot (1853-1903), Paris, to 1903 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1904 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from the sale of the Charles Gillot Collection, Durand-Ruel Gallery, Paris, through Yamanaka Sadajiro (of Yamanaka & Company), in 1904 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See S.I. 8, Original Miscellaneous List, pg. 17, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] After his death in 1903, a sale of Asian art belonging to French artist Charles Gillot took place in February 1904 at the Durand-Ruel Gallery in Paris. Yamanaka Sadajiro (of Yamanaka and Co.) attended the sale and annotated the sales catalogue (which is now in the Freer and Sackler Library) on Charles Lang Freer's behalf (see Curatorial Remark 8, Louise Cort, July 11, 2001, in the object record). Also, see note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: The Power to See Beauty (October 14, 2017 to September 6, 2022)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Arts of Japan (July 14, 2012 to January 13, 2013)
label: Exhibition History
content: Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)
label: Exhibition History
content: East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)
label: Exhibition History
content: Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art in the Age of Koetsu (June 6, 1998 to February 15, 1999)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art (May 9, 1993 to June 27, 1994)
label: Exhibition History
content: Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese and Chinese Lacquer (September 22, 1982 to June 30, 1983)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Lacquer (18 May 1980 to 15 June 1980)
label: Exhibition History
content: Rimpa Screens (October 9, 1980 to December 21, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Lacquer (April 16, 1979 to October 8, 1980)
label: Exhibition History
content: Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese and Japanese Art--Lacquer and Paintings (August 18, 1967 to October 14, 1969)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art, Galleries 3, 4, and 5 (January 1, 1963 to September 16, 1970)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Gillot (1853-1903) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: inlay (process)
label: Topic
content: lacquer
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: plum blossom
label: Topic
content: Noh
label: Topic
content: mask
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1904.36a-b
objectType: label: Type
content: Container
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Lacquer on wood with lead and mother of pearl
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (overall): 23.2 x 29.1 x 24.6 cm (9 1/8 x 11 7/16 x 9 11/16 in)