The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

A flat wooden box with intricate gold and silver designs across the surface. At the front, there is a depiction of a gold phoenix perched on a tree with a gold dragon flying by from our top right corner.

Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Phoenix in Paulownia

late 1500s

Japan, Momoyama period

(1573–1615)
Lacquer on wood with sprinkled gold and silver powder (maki-e) and gold and silver foil application
4 x 20.5 x 23.5 cm (1 9/16 x 8 1/16 x 9 1/4 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2016.34
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

In contrast to the bright, celebratory motifs on the exterior, the interior of the box invites a more reflective mood with its autumn moonlit sky over chrysanthemums.

Description

The only place the mythical phoenix will perch is in the paulownia tree. Along with the dragon, the bird is a symbol of imperial power in East Asia. This box––a container for an inkstone, brushes, and ink––is both functional and lavish, its dramatic effects achieved with a pear-skin ground decoration (nashiji) and sprinkled powder decoration in high relief (takamaki-e).
  • ?–2016
    (Koichi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2016–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "New in the Galleries.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 57, no. 1 (January/February 2017): Back cover. Reproduced and Mentioned: Back cover archive.org
    Vilbar, Sinéad. “Acquisition Highlights 2016: Japanese Art.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 57, no. 2 (March/April 2017): 18–19. Reproduced: pp. 5, 19; Mentioned: p. 19
  • Animals in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-December 10, 2023).
    Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - January-July 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art (January 9-July 10, 2017).
  • {{cite web|title=Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Phoenix in Paulownia|url=false|author=|year=late 1500s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2016.34