The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Small Chest of Drawers with Decoration of Flowers, Birds, and Insects

Art Object

Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons: Nature, Literature, and the Arts

Part of a Sunday at the Met held in conjunction with the exhibition Designing Nature: The Rinpa Aesthetic in Japanese Art, on view May 26, 2012–January 13, 2013, this lecture features Haruo Shirane, the Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University.

Recorded September 30, 2012

The exhibition is made possible by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation.
The catalogue is made possible by the Richard and Geneva Hofheimer Memorial Fund.

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Small Chest of Drawers with Decoration of Flowers, Birds, and Insects

Period:: late Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)
Date:: early 20th century
Culture:: Korea
Medium:: Lacquer inlaid with mother-of-pearl, with incised design
Dimensions:: H. 11 3/8 in. (28.9 cm); W. 12 7/8 in. (32.7 cm); D. 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm)
Classification:: Lacquer
Credit Line:: Purchase, Seymour Fund, Mary and James G. Wallach Foundation Gift, and Friends of Korean Art Gifts, 2006
Accession Number:: 2006.260a–g

This artwork is not on display

Description

This chest is an excellent example of an early twentieth-century lacquer box with allover mother-of-pearl decoration. The incised floral motifs filled with black ink or charcoal make the piece particularly striking. The shape, size, and compartments suggest that this chest held writing or cosmetic paraphernalia.
See also
What
Furniture (5,725)

Lacquer (1,745)

Pearl (908)

Case furniture (874)

Chests (335)
Where
Asia (68,071)

Korea (662)
When
A.D. 1900-present (77,516)
In the Museum
Asian Art (35,222)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Lacquerware of East Asia

Korea, 1800–1900 A.D.