The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 21, 2025
Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Europeans
1800s
(1615–1868)
23 x 20.2 cm (9 1/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
The Japanese term nanban 南蛮 is used to describe designs like the one on this box.Description
The two people on the left of this box lid's design are Portuguese traders, identifiable by their balloon-shaped pants. Facing them is a Jesuit priest in a long robe. Portuguese ships arrived in Japan in the 1540s. Imagery first made to document the appearance of the foreigners survived as decoration on later objects like this one.- ?–1965(Robert Rousset [1901–1982], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1965–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).Autumn Grasses: Arts of the Momoyama Period (1573-1615). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4-December 11, 1988).Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
- {{cite web|title=Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Europeans|url=false|author=|year=1800s|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.59