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Lacquer box, incense box and wooden box. Box, lacquered wood with aogai (small pieces of blue-green inlaid shell) and gold foil inlay. Square box with a wavy rim of eight points and an overhanging lid (A), the sides of which are cut away to form eight ruyi lappets. Inside is a tray (B) containing a circular box (C) and cover (D) surrounded by four shaped boxes (E, F, G, H) and covers (I, J, K, L). The roiro (black lacquer polished to a deep gloss) ground of the lid is inlaid with aogai and kirikane (metal foil cut to various shapes and individually set into a lacquer ground often as a mosaic) and decorated with two cranes beside bamboo and a pine tree. Each side is decorated in aogai and kirikane with a panel of aoi (Japanese name for malvaceous plant, of the mallow family) crests and scrolling foliage reserved on a diaper pattern ground beneath a circle and star pattern border. The rims are edged in gold and the inside is red lacquer. Each side of the lower section is decorated with a quatrefoil panel containing, alternately, peony, daisies and buddliah, camellia and chrysanthemum in aogai on a roiro ground reserved on a diaper pattern in aogai and kirikane. The base is roiro and the inside red lacquer with gold rims.
The wavy rim of the tray has eight points and is decorated with a diaper pattern border in aogai and kirikane, the sides are roiro and the inside red lacquer with two circular holes in the base. The small circular box is inlaid with aoi crests in aogai on a roiro ground within an aogai border and decorated with honeycomb pattern round the sides. The base is roiro and the inside red lacquer with gold rims. The four `segment' boxes are each decorated in aogai with a similar aoi crest design within a circular border on a roiro ground. The remainder of the lid and sides are decorated with various diaper patterns inlaid in aogai and kirikane. The bases are roiro and the insides red lacquer with gold rims.
The wooden box has a yellow ochre silk ribbon tie and the inscription on the lid in black ink reads `aogai' (two characters), `kiara' (aloes wood) (two characters), and the final character is a variant on `bako' (box). Inside is a square of purple silk with white running stitch along three sides and a square of blue, brown and cream checked silk backed with blue cotton.
History note: Bought Kyoto in 1908 from the collection of Mr Muda
Height: 13.7 cm
Length: 15.9 cm
Width: 15.6 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1947) by Raphael, Oscar C.
Edo Period (1615-1868)
19th Century
Circa
1800
-
1868
Wooden Box
composed of
black ink
Box
composed of
wood (plant material)
Inlay
composed of
shell (animal material)
foil
Inside Box
composed of
silk (textile)
Decoration
Lacquering : Box, lacquered wood and tray with aogai (small pieces of blue-green inlaid shell) and gold foil inlay, roiro (black lacquer polished to a deep gloss) and kirikane (metal foil cut to various shapes and individually set into a lacquer ground often as a mosaic); wooden box, inscribed in black ink, has a yellow ochre silk ribbon tie
Inscription present: small brown luggage label attached to the ribbon tie on box
Accession number: O.9 & A-L-1947
Primary reference Number: 24349
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
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/24349 Accessed: 2024-12-22 17:30:54
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/24349
|title=Box
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 17:30:54|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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-24349
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa20/O_9_20_26_20A_L_1947_28A_29.jpg"
alt="Box"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Box</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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