Set of Paper Box, Box for Writing Utensils & Box for Brushes w/ Design of Ferns

Miki Gyokushin II
Set of Paper Box, Box for Writing Utensils, and Box for Brushes with Design of Ferns, 1920s
Maki-e gold lacquer on wood, silver rims
Size paper box 4¾ x 12½ x 15¾ in. (12.2 x 31.7 x 40.4 cm)
Size writing box 1¾ x 7½ x 9¾ in. (4.4 x 19 x 24.8 cm)
Size small box 1¼ x 3½ x 8¼ in. (3.4 x 9.2 x 21.3 cm)
T-4981

Set of document box, writing box, and box for brushes, each of rectilinear form, the fumibako (paper box) with inrōbuta (flush-fitting lid), the suzuribako (box for writing utensils) and fudebako (box for brushes) each with kabusebuta (overhanging lid), the fumibako and suzuribako with sumikiri (cut-off corners), the exteriors covered in roiro polished black lacquer decorated in gold raised takamaki-e with fern designs, the interiors finished in nashiji gold flakes and hirame overlaid with vine leaves and tendrils in delicate gold hiramaki-e, the outer rims silver, the inner rims gold lacquer, the bases fine gold hirame, the suzuribako additionally with a raised platform to the left securing a suzuri (ink-grinding stone) and a silver suiteki (water dropper) in the form of a stylized kiri (paulownia) leaf and with four writing utensils, each with a cover, finished in the same techniques as the rest of the interiors: a paper knife, an auger for piercing sheets of paper, and two brushes, the interior of the fudebako lid with a stylized kiri leaf in gold hiramaki-e, and with silver cord fittings

Each box in the set comes with its original fitted lacquered wood tomobako storage boxes inscribed and signed in gold hiramaki-e characters respectively 'Shida maki-e on-fumibako maki-e Gyokushin saku (Document Box with Maki-e Design of Ferns, Made by Gyokushin, Kyoto Maki-e Specialist)' and 'Shida maki-e on-suzuribako maki-e Gyokushin saku (Box for Writing Utensils with Maki-e Design of Ferns, Made by Gyokushin, Kyoto Maki-e Specialist)', each sealed Gyokushin; each with a shop label Kyōto Miyazaki Kongidōguten Tokusei no akashi (Miyazaki Bridal Accouterments Store, Kyoto; Special Quality Guaranteed)

This exquisitely conceived and executed set of stationery boxes, with boldly applied fern motifs that reflect prevailing design trends, represents the very best in formal Kyoto lacquerware of the early Showa era. Lacquers such as this set would have been appropriate as formal gifts at the very highest social level, and the artist worked for a renowned company with many elite clients.

The maki-e decoration was executed by a member of the Miki Gyokushin (Hyōetsu) lineage, probably the third head of the family who received a gold medal in 1937 for a hexagonal lacquered table clock and, in the same year, showed his latest work at a two-man exhibition held by the Takashimaya Department Store, Osaka. Gyokushin is recorded as having worked for Minoya, one of the finest lacquer workshops in Kyoto that brought together under one roof all the skills required for production of high-class lacquerware, from preparation of the wooden core through to completion of the last layer of decoration. The business thrived during the Meiji and Taisho eras and as late as 1943, at the height of World War II, was able to fulfill an order for a complete set of lacquer ware for the wedding of Princess Terunomiya (Shigeko), eldest daughter of the Emperor, to Prince Higashikuni. Realizing that it would no longer be possible to maintain its high standards in the changed social and economic climate of the postwar era, in 1945 Inagaki Sōichirō, the owner of Minoya, closed the business and in 1990 its collections and archives were given to Kyoto National Museum. The 260 donated items included three works with maki-e decoration by Gyokushin. The fourth member of the Miki Hyōretsu lineage (art name Keiraku), born in 1971, remains active at the present day.