Skip to main content

Box: MAR.O.60 & A-1912

Object information

Awaiting location update

Maker(s)

Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Box, wood and lacquer applied with mother of pearl and gut/twine. Box in the shape of a biwa. The lower section is of black lacquer polished to a deep gloss (roiro) with a gold edge. The neck has five frets; the four gut/twine strings are fastened to four tapered wooden pegs which are waisted at the outer end and lodged in the holes on the neck. The peg-board at the end of the neck is applied with gold. The cover (A) has four strings and is applied with two mother of pearl discs, one of a sun and one of a moon. The underside is decorated in low-relief with a bird in flight, in gold with a red crest, on a black roiro ground.

Legal notes

C.B. Marlay Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 3.3 cm
Length: 14.9 cm
Width: 6.2 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1912) by Marlay, Charles Brinsley

Dating

Edo Period (1615-1868)#
Circa 1700 - 1868

Components of the work

Decoration composed of lacquer mother-of-pearl twine gold
Box composed of wood (plant material)
Cover
Lower Section

Techniques used in production

Lacquering : Wood and lacquer applied with mother of pearl and gut/twine, the lower section is polished to a deep gloss (roiro), the underside of the cover is decorated in low-relief

Identification numbers

Accession number: MAR.O.60 & A-1912
Primary reference Number: 23982
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 4 January 2017 Last processed: Thursday 3 August 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Box" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/23982 Accessed: 2024-12-18 16:01:50

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/23982 |title=Box |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-18 16:01:50|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-23982

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...