‘Nashiji’ is a lacquering technique where large, irregularly-shaped flakes of gold or silver are scattered over many layers of translucent orange-tinted lacquer. ‘Maki-e’ is a Japanese lacquer decoration technique in which pictures, patterns, and letters are drawn with lacquer on the surface of lacquerware, and then metal powder such as gold or silver is sprinkled and fixed on the surface of the lacquerware.
Mid to Late Edo Period
(18-19C)
Gift from the Homma family
This inkstone box is a magnificent example of its kind, ideal for displaying on the floor or in a study. The hawk decorating the front of the lid, the sacred Mount Fuji on its rear and the water droplets shaped like eggplants are all items associated with good fortune, and together refer to the belief that it is auspicious to encounter these items in the first dream one has in the new year. This belief is expressed the traditional Japanese proverb ‘ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi’