Document Box (Ryōshibako) with Court Carriage and Wild Ginger

Japan

Not on view

This document box is embellished with an ox carriage (Gosho-guruma) that was used by the emperor and empress, and also by aristocrats. Gosho, meaning the Imperial Palace, is an honorific that extended to aristocrats. Court carriages are sometimes also referred to as Genji-guruma, as they were often depicted in paintings associated with the literary classic, The Tale of Genji. The imagery here of the cart and wild ginger refers to the Tale’s ninth chapter, “Leaves of Wild Ginger” (Aoi).

Document Box (Ryōshibako) with Court Carriage and Wild Ginger, Lacquered wood with gold and silver hiramaki‑e, togidashimaki-e, and e-nashiji (“pear-skin picture”), with mother‑of‑pearl inlay on black ground, Japan

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Document Box (Ryōshibako) with Court Carriage and Wild Ginger, Lacquered wood with gold and silver hiramaki‑e, togidashimaki-e, and e-nashiji (“pear-skin picture”), with mother‑of‑pearl inlay on black ground, Japan
Document Box (Ryōshibako) with Court Carriage and Wild Ginger, Lacquered wood with gold and silver hiramaki‑e, togidashimaki-e, and e-nashiji (“pear-skin picture”), with mother‑of‑pearl inlay on black ground, Japan

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.