Document Box (Ryōshibako) with Dayflowers

Okada Akito Japanese
ca. 1930s
Not on view
The artist covered this box in black lacquer and decorated the lid with blue dayflowers. The bloom, which lasts for a single day, was used to produce dyes and pigments for ukiyo-e prints and textiles. The decoration is executed in the kinma technique: patterns are carved into black ground layers, filled in with colored lacquer, lacquered again to smooth the surface, and finally polished to a gloss. The technique, introduced to Japan from China, was originally developed in northern Thailand, Laos, and Burma. Okada Akito exhibited regularly at the government-sponsored annual art exhibitions, including the Nitten (after 1947), and he served as a lacquer-restoration master for the Imperial Household collections.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 岡田章人作 露草蒟醬料紙箱
  • Title: Document Box (Ryōshibako) with Dayflowers
  • Artist: Okada Akito (Japanese, 1910–1968)
  • Period: Shōwa period (1926–89)
  • Date: ca. 1930s
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Lacquered wood with kinma decoration
  • Dimensions: H. 5 3/16 in. (13.2 cm); W. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm); L. 14 7/16 in. (36.7 cm)
  • Classification: Lacquer
  • Credit Line: Gift of Erik and Cornelia Thomsen, 2016
  • Object Number: 2016.746a–c
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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