box
- Museum number
- 1945,1017.379
- Description
-
Box for mirror. Lotus scrolls. Made of hiramakie lacquered and mother-of-pearl inlaid wood.
- Production date
- 12thC-14thC
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 12 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
Mirror box
Gold lacquer and shell inlay
Kamakura period, 13th century
The box was to contain a round polished bronze mirror. The symmetric yet apparently free arrangement of the lotuses and scrolling is typical of Kamakura period lacquerware, although similar designs and the same inlay technique are found on mirror boxes until the middle of the Edo period.
(Label copy, VH, 1999)
-
Smith et al 1990
The use of delicate pieces of mother-of-pearl set in a burnished 'hiramakie' ground is essentially a Kamakura period technique but was reproduced as late as the seventeenth century. It is not quite certain when this piece was made.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1945
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1945,1017.379