Lacquered Stationery Box (Ryoshi-Bako)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 9 Mar 1859
name: label: Donor Name
content: Emperor Of Japan
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "COVERED RECTANGULAR WOODEN BOX, COVERED WITH GOLD LACQUER ALL OVER THE OUTSIDE, AND WITH SOME FIGURES IN LOW RELIEF ON THE TOP. CONTAINS A TRAY. MAY 1969: THOUGH THIS IS ENTERED IN THE ORIGINAL CATALOG AMONG THE SIAMESE ITEMS MISTAKENLY CALLED JAPANESE, IT IS OF JAPANESE TYPE AND SO PROBABLY IS CORRECTLY ONE OF THE PERRY JAPANESE ITEMS.- R. ELDER - YES. ON LOAN FOR EXHIBIT PURPOSES TO DIV. OF NAVAL HISTORY, NMAH, MAY 19, 1965. RETURNED 4/17/1970. ON LOAN FOR EXHIBIT PURPOSES TO DIV. OF NAVAL HISTORY, NMAH 5/11/1971." RETURNED AUGUST, 2000.
label: Notes
content: Illus. #9, pp. 20 - 22, in Houchins, Chang-su. 1995. Artifacts of diplomacy: Smithsonian collections from Commodore Matthew Perry's Japan Expedition (1853-1854). Smithsonian contributions to anthropology, no. 37. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. Identified there as Lacquered stationery box (ryoshi-bako), L. 40.5 cm., W. 33 cm., H. 17 cm..
label: Notes
content: Description: Black, rectangular, covered lacquer box with shallow interior tray, used for storing paper, brushes, inkstones, and other writing paraphernalia.
label: Notes
content: Characteristics: The box cover ornamentation is in the traditionally auspicous shochikubai (pine, bamboo, and plum) design of makie decoration in relief against the nashiji (lit. golden pear-like color finish; gold flecked surface) lacquer finish. The nashiji exterior finish is obtained by sprinkling gold flakes, made from compressed coarse gold fillings, onto the surface and applying a final coating of lacquer. Additional decoration includes such other equally auspicious symbols and clouds and waves in burnished gold. The interior surface is finished in black lacquer. Boxes of this size and construction generally are known simply as ryoshi-bako (stationery box) (Young, 1973:112, 206, for the term and similar specimens.)
label: Notes
content: Remarks: This stationery box was presented as a gift to the President of the United States from the Bakufu (the military government [of Japan] under the shogun; also known as the Shogunate Government, 1603 - 1868) at Kanagawa in March 1854. An entry for "nashiji makie shochikubai ryoshi suzuri-bako" appears in the NGL (BGKM, 1912, volume 4, page 556), and "Ryoshi suzuri-bako, sho-chikubai taka-makie" is recorded in the SML (BGKM, 1916, volume 8, page 546).
label: Notes
content: See Chang-Su Houchins. 1995. Artifacts of Diplomacy: Smithsonian Collections from Commodore Matthew Perry's Japan Expedition (1853-1854). Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, Number 37. P 20, 21 and 22
label: Record Last Modified
content: 7 Jul 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 3
place: label: Place
content: Japan, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Not Given
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 199043
label: USNM Number
content: E71-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Stationery Box
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 40.5 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 33 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 17 cm
label: Length
content: 40.5 cm
label: Width
content: 33 cm
label: Height
content: 17 cm