Writing box
date: label: Date
content: 1615-1868
label: Period
content: Edo period
notes: label: Label
content: On the lid of this box is an imaginary portrait of the poet Ki no Tsurayuki (circa 868-945), compiler of the early tenth-century imperial anthology Kokinshu (Collection of ancient and modern poems). A poem by Tsurayuki from the Kokinshu is inscribed in the space above the tatami mat on which he is seated.
label: Label
content: Like my cupped hands (musubu te no)
label: Label
content: Spilling drops back into the mountain pool (shizuku ni nigoru)
label: Label
content: And clouding its pure waters (yama no i no)
label: Label
content: Before the satisfaction of my thirst (akade mo hito ni)
label: Label
content: So have I had to part with you too soon. (wakarenuru ka na)
label: Label
content: (Translation by Robert H. Brower and Earl Miner, Japanese Court Poetry [Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1961], 207-208)
label: Label
content: The design of this box was adapted from a page in a woodblock-printed illustrated edition of Sanjurokkasen (Thirty-six immortal poets) published during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries by a close associate of the calligrapher and artist, Hon'ami Koetsu (1558-1637) the wealthy merchant Suminokura Soan (1571-1632). Soan's beautiful editions of classical works of Japanese literature were called Sagabon (Saga editions) after the place where they were printed near Kyoto. Although this lacquer box is only indirectly related to Koetsu, it confirms his enduring prestige and importance to artists of the Edo period.
label: Provenance
content: To 1906
label: Provenance
content: Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1906 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1906 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), given by Bunkio Matsuki in 1906 [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] Undated folder sheet note. See Reserved Lacquer List, R. 5012, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] 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: Bold and Beautiful: Rinpa in Japanese Art (June 28, 2015 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art in the Age of Koetsu (June 6, 1998 to February 15, 1999)
label: Exhibition History
content: James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art (May 11, 1984 to December 5, 1984)
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: Previous custodian or owner
content: Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: lacquer
label: Topic
content: portrait
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: writing
label: Topic
content: poetry
label: Topic
content: poet
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: lettering
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
label: Topic
content: maki-e
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: F1906.288a-d
objectType: label: Type
content: Container
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Lacquer, gold, and metal leaf on wood
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 5.3 x 23.5 x 21.8 cm (2 1/16 x 9 1/4 x 8 9/16 in)