id:			437542
accession number:	2020.67.e
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.67.e
updated:		2022-01-04 18:15:03.360000

Water Dropper for a Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Hydrangea at Night, 1930s. Japan, Shōwa period (1926-89). Engraved silver and gold; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Lillian M. Kern Memorial Fund 2020.67.e

title:				Water Dropper for a Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Hydrangea at Night
title in original language:	夜紫陽花文硯箱
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1930s
creation date earliest:		1930
creation date latest:		1939
current location:		
creditline:			Lillian M. Kern Memorial Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Japan, Shōwa period (1926-89)
technique:	Engraved silver and gold
department:	Japanese Art
collection:	Japanese Art
type:		Lacquer
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(Erik Thomsen Asian Art, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?-2020
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2020-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
The moody, glamorous look of the box is an excellent example of reconsidering classical seasonal motifs.

digital description: 
The close-up design and stylization of the hydrangea-blossom motif on this writing box are a modern extension of the reconsidering of classical seasonal imagery that was a main feature of Rinpa school aesthetics from the mid-1600s to mid-1800s.

wall description: 
The close-up design and restrained stylization of the hydrangea-blossom motif on this writing box (<em>suzuribako</em>) point to a date in the 1930s, when Art Deco was becoming increasingly popular in Japan. The box has a flush-fitting (<em>aikuchi</em>) lid, rounded edges and corners, and interior detachable frame fitted with ink stone (<em>suzuri</em>) and water dropper (<em>suiteki</em>); the exterior and sides of the lid and box are decorated on a highly polished black ground (<em>roiro</em>) in gold, blue-gold (<em>aokin</em>), silver, and colored flat-sprinkled powder designs (<em>hiramaki-e</em>) and high-relief sprinkled powder designs (<em>takamaki-e</em>) with a close-up design of the stem, leaves, and blossom of a hydrangea blossom; the interior is finished in gold and silver pear-skin ground (<em>nashiji</em>); the water dropper of silver is engraved and gilt with the rising sun behind clouds; the rims of the ink stone are silver-lacquered; and the rims of the box and lid are of silver. The techniques and materials had existed for centuries before this box was made, but the design itself would have been new for its time. It was produced when having a writing box would soon become much rarer in Japanese society.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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