A small black-lacquer suzuribako (box for writing utensils)
Attributed to the Igarashi School, Edo period (1615-1868), 17th/early 18th centuryThe almost square kabusebuta (overlapping lid) with rounded corners and narrow bevelled chiri-i edges, the exterior decoration predominantly in gold hiramaki-e and takamaki-e and shell inlay with dew-laden chrysanthemums bending over a mountain stream on a sparse hirame ground, the dewdrops studded in silver, the partial characters of a poem lacquered in silver hiramaki-e characters, some camouflaged within the stalk of the chrysanthemum, the inside of the lid similarly embellished with two sprigs of chrysanthemum, the interior tray and baseboard fitted with a suzuri (ink-grinding stone) and a gilt suiteki (water dropper) in the form of a chrysanthemum blossom, with two fude (writing brushes) with sparse nashiji handles and covers, unsigned; with a wood storage box with a paper label inscribed Usunashiji kiku uta-e Doho kogata suzuribako (Usu nashiji small writing box by Doho with design of chrysanthemum and poem); accompanied by a slip recording that the box was sold for 1,650,000 yen on 19 February 2000 (lot 178) at Seibi Auction, described as Igarashi Doho kiku maki-e aogai-iri suzuribako (Writing box with design of chrysanthemums in maki-e and shell by Igarashi Doho). 3.8cm x 18cm x 20.2cm (1?in x 7in x 8in). (10).
注脚
For a writing box in similar style by Igarashi Doho, depicting a flowering cherry tree outside and chrysanthemums on a black lacquer ground inside, see Kaga Bijutsu Seinenkai ed., Kaga yukari no maki-e ten: Kaga maki-e no genryu o saguru (Exhibition of Kaga-style Maki-e: Searching for the Origins of Maki-e), Kanazawa, 1995, p.27, no.6.The hidden characters are likely from the following waka poem by Fujiwara Shunzei (1114-1204), one the greatest poets of his day, which is also seen on a box with the same motif in the Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya (see https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/18977): Yamabito no / oru sode niou / kiku no tsuyu / uchiharau ni mo / chiyo wa henu beshi (The mountain hermit's / trailing sleeves are scented with / chrysanthemum dew / to shake it all off would take / one thousand generations); Shinkokinshu anthology, book 7, poem 719.