Writing box with pines, plum, chrysanthemums, and paulownia

Kodaiji style lacquer Writing boxes (suzuribako) were used to hold an assortment of writing utensils, including an inkstone, a water dropper, brushes, and sticks of ink. On each side of the bold zigzag is a combination of auspicious floral motifs in maki-e, or “sprinkled picture, ” a technique in which artists apply metallic flakes or powder on the lacquer surface before it fully dries. On the upper left are seen pine trees and plum blossoms on a black-lacquer background, and on the lower right chrysanthemums and paulownia decorate a red background created with the nashiji (pear-skin) technique. The zigzag is a unique design feature of lacquer objects created in the so-called Kōdaiji style, which developed in the late 1500s and was associated with the temple Kōdaiji in Kyoto.