Skip to main content

Box: MAR.O.61 & A-D-1912

Object information

Awaiting location update

Maker(s)

Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Lacquer box, ryoshibako (box for writing paper) and wooden stand. Box, lacquer, accompanied by wooden stand. Rectangular box with rounded corners and a seated lid (A) decorated in gold, silver and black in takamakie (high-relief sprinkled design), hiramakie (low-relief sprinkled design), uchikomi (design details, the hollows in the rocks filled with gold particles), and okibirame (flakes of gold positioned using a wooden skewer) on a red-brown nashiji (shimmering spangles) ground with fundame (matt) gold rims. The outside of the lid is decorated with branches of flowering peonies, pine branches, rocks (with hollows) and a stream; the underside of the lid depicts `The Three Friends', branches of pine, prunus and bamboo, with rocks, clouds and scattered flower heads. The sides are each decorated with branches of flowering peony emerging from rocks. The interior and the base are nashiji. The floor of the lower half has a removable mat of green velvet lined and bound with silk (B).

Legal notes

C.B. Marlay Bequest

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

Edo Period (1615-1868)#
19th Century, Mid#
Production date: circa AD 1840

Components of the work

Decoration composed of lacquer gold
Mats composed of silk (textile) velvet
Box Height 19.4 cm Length 46.2 cm Width 35.0 cm
Stand Height 7.3 cm Length 44.2 cm Width 3.3 cm

Techniques used in production

Lacquering : Box, lacquer, accompanied by a wooden stand, decorated in takamakie (high-relief sprinkled design), hiramakie (low-relief sprinkled design), uchikomi (design details, filled with gold particles), and okibirame (flakes of gold positioned using a wooden skewer) on a red-brown nashiji (shimmering spangles) ground with fundame (matt) gold rims

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: rectangular cream sticky label with two line border

  • Text: Fitzwilliam Museum Marlay Bequest 1912
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Label
  • Text: Japanese box ab. 1840. Genuine Japanese work, made for the home market, and untouched. Though regarded in Japan as of a bad period, worth keeping. Marlay Bequest, 1912. O.C. Raphael, July, 1934
  • Method of creation: Hand written in black ink
  • Type: Label

Identification numbers

Accession number: MAR.O.61 & A-D-1912
Primary reference Number: 23998
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 4 January 2017 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 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/23998 Accessed: 2024-11-22 04:09:09

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/23998 |title=Box |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 04:09:09|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-23998

Sign up for updates

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