Calligraphy box decorated with gentians, 1920s
Color on Paulownia wood, glazed stoneware, silver, wood, metalexpand_more
Gift of the Clark Center for Japanese Art & Cultureexpand_more 2013.29.71a-l
Not on Viewexpand_more
In Japan and in other East Asian cultures, the main tools for writing were a brush and ink. People used writing boxes (suzuribako) like these to store their implements. This set includes a brush, an inkstone, a water dropper, and a small knife for cutting paper. The first step to writing was to prepare the ink, which required grinding the solid inkstick against the inkstone (here, the glazed green plate) with some water from the water dropper (shaped as a yellow knot). Writing boxes are primarily associated with calligraphy, but the same utensils were used for drawing as well.
Details
- Title
- Calligraphy box decorated with gentians
- Artist Life
- 1866 - 1942
- Role
- Painter
- Accession Number
- 2013.29.71a-l
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know
Zoom in on the left to the detail you'd like to save. Click 'Save detail' and wait until the image updates. Right click the image to 'save image as' or copy link, or click the image to open in a new tab.