Shikishi (square calligraphy paper) Box with Design of Flowers and Praying Mantis
Not on view
Writing boxes were produced in large numbers from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century—a testament to the rise of literacy in Japan. As is typical of such boxes, the interior of this piece has a different but related design and holds an inkstone and other implements for writing and ink making. The box’s surface, richly decorated with an image of a praying mantis beneath a basket of strawberry geraniums, is typical of the art of the Meiji period. In Japanese lacquers intended for domestic use, pearl shell plays a secondary role in the decoration; here, it outlines the edges of the flower basket.
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