Handscroll case with maple tree design

Object Details

• Label

  Lacquer sap drawn from the tree, Rhus verniciflua, was used in East Asia as a protective and decorative coating for objects made of porous materials such as wood. The waterproof, inert film formed by cured lacquer was especially desirable for storage containers for fragile items such as scrolls of calligraphy or painting. As an appropriate honor for a cherished work of art, a costly lacquer box decorated with gold was often ordered to house the object itself, and it was placed in turn in additional wooden boxes as a safeguard againse fire or other disasters.

  This box is decorated with a design of a maple tree in autumn, depicted with gold sprinkled on designs drawn in lacquer, the technique known as maki-e.

• 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)

  East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)

  Autumn Colors (October 19 to December 20, 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)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• 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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• 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

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Momoyama period (1573 - 1615), Maple tree, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Lacquer

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Containers