Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Phoenix in Paulownia (inkstone and water dropper) (c. 1573–99): Art, History and Details

Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Phoenix in Paulownia (inkstone and water dropper) (c. 1573–99) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The only place the mythical phoenix will perch is in the paulownia tree. Along with the dragon, the bird is a symbol of imperial power in East Asia. This box––a container for an inkstone, brushes, and ink––is both functional and lavish, its dramatic effects achieved with a pear-skin ground decoration (nashiji) and sprinkled powder decoration in high relief (takamaki-e).

Object facts

• Title: Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Phoenix in Paulownia (inkstone and water dropper)
• Date: c. 1573–99
• Culture: Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615)
• Type: Lacquer
• Technique: Lacquer on wood with sprinkled gold and silver powder (maki-e) and gold and silver foil application
• Dimensions: 4 x 20.5 x 23.5 cm (1 9/16 x 8 1/16 x 9 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 2016.34.c

A detail from the museum

The only place the mythical phoenix will perch is the paulownia tree.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• "New in the Galleries.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 57, no. 1 (January/February 2017): Back cover.
• Vilbar, Sinéad. “Acquisition Highlights 2016: Japanese Art.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 57, no. 2 (March/April 2017): 18–19.

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.