Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Mice and Fan

Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Mice and Fan

Ogawa Haritsu (Ritsuō)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This box for writing implements presents a novel vision of nature and art that reveals the spirited wit of urban culture in the mid-Edo period. Three mice devour a fan that once opened to reveal a classic poem on beautifully decorated paper. The gusto with which they dispatch this traditional art form becomes clear when the box is opened to show the tail and hindquarters of one through the hole they've nibbled in the cover. Ogawa Haritsu was a man of many arts—painting, pottery, and haiku poetry in addition to lacquer. His work is distinctive for its use of other materials with lacquer, and his use of lacquer to ingeniously simulate other materials.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Mice and FanWriting Box (Suzuribako) with Mice and FanWriting Box (Suzuribako) with Mice and FanWriting Box (Suzuribako) with Mice and FanWriting Box (Suzuribako) with Mice and Fan

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.