Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Chrysanthemum and Plum (late 1800s-early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Chrysanthemum and Plum (late 1800s-early 1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Sasaki Takayasu (Japanese, 1845–1929).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Both functional and elegant, this is a container for an ink stone, brushes, and ink from a set of writing tools that included a larger box for paper. Against a sleek gold lacquered ground, its artist has used restraint in sprinkled powder decoration (maki-e) to produce the design of cockscomb and harvested rice on the interior of the lid.

Object facts

• Title: Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Chrysanthemum and Plum
• Date: late 1800s-early 1900s
• Creator attribution: Sasaki Takayasu (Japanese, 1845–1929)
• Culture: Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)
• Type: Lacquer
• Technique: Lacquer over wood with gold and silver sprinkled powder (maki-e)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1992.389

Collection credit

Bequest of Maud Eells Corning

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.