Shikishi (square calligraphy paper) Box with Design of Flowers and Praying Mantis

Shikishi (square calligraphy paper) Box with Design of Flowers and Praying Mantis

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Writing boxes were produced in large numbers from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century—a testament to the rise of literacy in Japan. As is typical of such boxes, the interior of this piece has a different but related design and holds an inkstone and other implements for writing and ink making. The box’s surface, richly decorated with an image of a praying mantis beneath a basket of strawberry geraniums, is typical of the art of the Meiji period. In Japanese lacquers intended for domestic use, pearl shell plays a secondary role in the decoration; here, it outlines the edges of the flower basket.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Shikishi (square calligraphy paper) Box with Design of Flowers and Praying MantisShikishi (square calligraphy paper) Box with Design of Flowers and Praying MantisShikishi (square calligraphy paper) Box with Design of Flowers and Praying MantisShikishi (square calligraphy paper) Box with Design of Flowers and Praying MantisShikishi (square calligraphy paper) Box with Design of Flowers and Praying Mantis

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.