Property from the Paul and Helen Anbinder Collection A BLACK LACQUER WRITING BOXEdo period, (1615-1868), 19th century An almost square suzuribako with sumikiri (chamfered) corners, the kabusebuta (overhanging) lid with a flat top, the interior fitted with an ita board with raised sections at top and bottom framing the suzuri (ink stone) and cut with a recess for the suiteki (water dropper), the exterior of the lid with a forest of maple, cherry, and other trees hung with creepers and backed by an enormous moon, the interior of the lid with different bird species perched in a pine tree by a steam, with plants and insects in the foreground, the ita and the interior of the box with pines, maples and rocks; the decoration of the lid in iro-e hiramaki-e with details in gold kirigane and shell against a black lacquer ground, the moon in faint ginpun ; the decoration of the interior chiefly in gold and colored takamaki-e with shell and gold foil inlay against a dense gold hirame ground; the rims applied in lead or pewter; the sides and base gold hirame ; the suiteki copper, in the form of aoi (hollyhock) leaves and blossoms; with a lacquered wood storage box 2 x 9 1/2 x 10in (5 x 24 x 25.5cm) Provenance Christie's, New York, March 24, 2003 Exhibited Cornell University, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, "Scattered Gold and Midnight Gloss, Japanese Lacquer from the Anbinder Collection," March 31-July 8, 2007