1880-1881
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format. In black on an off-white ground, the top and sides are painted with birds and flying insects amid plants that sprout from a ground line. The plants include rose, prunus, and hyacinth.
3.7 × 3.8 × 22.6 cm (1 7/16 × 1 1/2 × 8 7/8 in.)
Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2014. Note: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.
Ink on carved wood
19th centuryChineseOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard
19th-20th centuryInk on carved wood
19th centuryChineseChūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement
19th-20th centuryJapaneseOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th centuryInk on carved wood
19th centuryChineseDaihan (large-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique
19th-20th centuryJapaneseSteel with gold overlay
19th centuryKoban (small-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "kiribori" (drill-carving), "dōgubori" (punch-carving), and "hikibori" (pull-carving) techniques
19th-20th centuryJapaneseDaihan (large-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement
19th-20th centuryJapaneseOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, platy hematite particles, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th century