Box for personal accessories (tebako)

Object Details

• Label

  Tebako were portable boxes that usually held sets of smaller, similarly decorated boxes that would contain a woman's toiletries, combs, mirrors and other personal items. The striking decorative style of this example is known as Kodaiji maki-e, named after the mortuary temple in Kyoto dedicated to the memory of the powerful warrior Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598). Professional lacquerers of the Koami school, who were commissioned to produce the architectural decoration and objects for the Kodaiji, employed distinctive designs featuring relatively flat, large-scale motifs simply delineated in fine gold powder in the technique termed maki-e and reddish gold-flecked technique known as nashiji.

  The fresh, vibrant style associated with Kodaiji appealed to the taste for innovative design that prevailed in Kyoto at the turn of the seventeenth century. The decoration of this box is divided diagonally into broad zones with two different motifs--wisteria and seashells with seaplants--set against contrasting grounds of nashiji and black lacquer.

• Provenance

  To 1907

  Unidentified owner, Japan, to 1907 [1]

  From 1907 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased in Japan from an unidentified owner in 1907 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1207, pg. 27, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] 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

  Moonlight and Clouds: Silver and Gold in the Arts of Japan (November 11, 2008 to November 11, 2009)

  Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)

  Japanese Art in the Age of Koetsu (June 6, 1998 to February 15, 1999)

  Japanese Art (May 9, 1993 to June 27, 1994)

  Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)

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

  Japanese Lacquer (18 May 1980 to 15 June 1980)

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

  Chinese and Japanese Art--Lacquer and Paintings (August 18, 1967 to October 14, 1969)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Container

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1600s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Momoyama period (1573 - 1615), Maki-e, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Lacquer, Wisteria

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Containers