A LACQUERED RYOSHIBAKO (DOCUMENT BOX) AND COVER WITH HAWKS' FEATHERS


Edo period (1615-1868), first half of the 19th centuryOf standard rectangular form with inrobuta (flush-fitting lid), the exterior except for the base entirely covered in loosely woven fabric filled with black lacquer, the rounded chiri-i (edges) finished in gold nashiji, the decoration executed mostly in silver hiramaki-e with some gold hiramaki-e and kinpun and consisting of one bundle of 14 (on the cover) and two bundles (on the sides) of six hawks' feathers, elegantly arranged on a gold thread; the interior with the 'dragon-scale' mon (crest) of the Hojo family, in gold hiramaki-e on polished black lacquer, the base polished black lacquer, unsigned; with an inscribed wooden storage box. 11.6cm x 32cm x 38.4cm (4 5/8in x 12 5/8in x 15 1/8in). (3).
|A suzuribako (box for writing utensils) with a very similar motif executed in the same techniques and with the distinctive nashiji decoration to the borders but on a conventional polished black-lacquer ground is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, inv. no. W.331-1910.