Suntory Museum of Art
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Collection
Notable Works
Low desk and writing box with design of paulownia, bamboo, and phoenix in maki-e

Notable Works

Lacquerware

Low desk and writing box with design of paulownia, bamboo, and phoenix in maki-e

Important cultural property

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Number of components: 1
Dimensions (in cm): Desk: W. 59.4, D. 35.1, H. 9.3/ Writing box: W. 23.2, D. 24.7, H. 6.2
Date of production: Momoyama period Early 17th century

This is a valuable example of a surviving set of low desk and writing box. Primarily finished in raised maki-e, kanagai inlays, and cut gold and silver leaf (kirikane), both the desk and the box feature phoenixes with paulownia and bamboo growing in a mound of earth. The dazzling character of the Momoyama period is expressed in the liberal use of gold for the kirikane, the gold pieces on the tree trunks and on the leaves of the paulownia and bamboo. Cut out of thick sheet of gold, the phoenix is particularly striking. The composition draws on earlier periods, but we can perceive the elements of a new age in the three-dimensional, narrative composition with the phoenixes on the desk and box facing each other, and the water dropper fashioned in the shape of a phoenix egg.

Notable Works

Low desk and writing box with design of paulownia, bamboo, and phoenix in maki-e

SUNTORY MUSEUM of ART