The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Design of Pine, Camellia, and Bamboo (lid)

1400s

Japan, Muromachi period

(1392–1573)
Lacquered wood with gold and silver sprinkled powder (maki-e)
Overall: 24.2 x 22.6 cm (9 1/2 x 8 7/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1969.124.b
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The combination of pine, bamboo, and plum is a common seasonal motif; here the plum is replaced with camellia.

Description

Writing boxes were indispensible personal possessions for the literate of medieval Japan. Beyond containing the tools for artistic expression and communication such as an ink stone, writing brushes, and a water dropper, writing boxes often featured scenes from classical literature or symbolic motifs rendered in a wide array of complex lacquer techniques.
  • ?–1969
    (Setsu Gatodō Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1969–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “Art of Asia Recently Acquired by American Museums, 1969.” Archives of Asian Art 24 (1970): 86–117. Mentioned: p. 107 www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1969.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 57, no. 1 (January 1970): 2–51. Mentioned: p. 51, no. 238 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 378 archive.org
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 120); March 11, 2003 - July 13, 2004.
    Cleveland Museum of Art, 1970: Year in Review 1969.
  • {{cite web|title=Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Design of Pine, Camellia, and Bamboo (lid)|url=false|author=|year=1400s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.124.b