Portable Writing Cabinet with Tokugawa Family Crests, Chrysanthemums, and Foliage Scrolls

Portable Writing Cabinet with Tokugawa Family Crests, Chrysanthemums, and Foliage Scrolls

Kōami School

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This portable writing box has three drawers; the two upper ones are for paper and documents, while the one at the bottom holds the inkstone, water dropper, and brushes. The cabinet is elaborately decorated with the highest quality maki-e (“sprinkled pictures”). It was produced for the Tokugawa family in one of their official maki-e workshops, probably that of the Kōami family. The chrysanthemum flowers are depicted almost individually, each executed in a different hue or maki-e (flat or relief pattern) technique emphasizing the layered petal structure. Some of the flowers are shown frontally, others from the side or the back. Chrysanthemums, which represent both longevity and autumn, are often featured in classical Japanese poetry.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portable Writing Cabinet with Tokugawa Family Crests, Chrysanthemums, and Foliage ScrollsPortable Writing Cabinet with Tokugawa Family Crests, Chrysanthemums, and Foliage ScrollsPortable Writing Cabinet with Tokugawa Family Crests, Chrysanthemums, and Foliage ScrollsPortable Writing Cabinet with Tokugawa Family Crests, Chrysanthemums, and Foliage ScrollsPortable Writing Cabinet with Tokugawa Family Crests, Chrysanthemums, and Foliage Scrolls

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.