Box for writing utensils

Object Details

• Label

  Artists of the Rimpa school, named in the late nineteenth century after the painter, textile, and lacquer designer Ogata Korin (1658-1716), are credited with innovative designs for objects, including lacquerware, a craft that demands excellent technical knowledge. In the early seventeenth century, the calligrapher Hon'ami Koetsu (1559-1637) participated in lacquer design. In addition to the traditional gold and silver that had been used in Japanese lacquer decoration since the eighth century, Koetsu is thought to have encouraged the use of new materials, such as sheet lead worked to a textured rather than a polished surface. Korin's lacquer designs carried on the tradition of heavy mother-of-pearl and metal inlays combined with traditional maki-e (sprinkled gold and silver).

  This box contains a spurious signature of Korin, but it lacks the fine execution associated with his best designs. It does, however, reflect the importance of Korin's style throughout the nineteenth century, when it was disseminated as much through woodblock-printed books as through direct transmission of his artistic style. The scene comes from the eleventh-century court classic Tales of Ise, in which a courtier rides a horse over a hill. Most of the gold used to depict the hill has rubbed away.

• Provenance

  To 1903

  Charles Gillot (1853-1903), Paris, to 1903 [1]

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from the sale of the Charles Gillot Collection, Durand-Ruel Gallery, Paris, through Yamanaka Sadajiro (of Yamanaka & Company), in 1904 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See S.I. 11, Original Miscellaneous List, pg. 17, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] After his death in 1903, a sale of Asian art belonging to French artist Charles Gillot took place in February 1904 at the Durand-Ruel Gallery in Paris. Yamanaka Sadajiro (of Yamanaka and Co.) attended the sale and annotated the sales catalogue (which is now in the Freer and Sackler Library) on Charles Lang Freer's behalf (see Curatorial Remark 6, Louise Cort, July 11, 2001, in the object record). Also, see note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Power to See Beauty (October 14, 2017 to September 6, 2022)

  Bold and Beautiful: Rinpa in Japanese Art (June 28, 2015 to January 3, 2016)

  Tales and Legends in Japanese Art (June 21, 2003 to January 4, 2004)

  Japanese and Chinese Lacquer (September 22, 1982 to June 30, 1983)

  Japanese Lacquer (April 16, 1979 to October 8, 1980)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles Gillot (1853-1903) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Container

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1900s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Gillot, Charles, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Animals, Maki-e, Noble, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Lacquer, Horses, Writing

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Containers