Object details
Object number
U18e57
Creator(s)
Japanese
Title
Medicine Case (Inro): Cicada
Date
early 19th century
Medium
Lacquered wood with gold and silver takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, and nashiji; crystal netsuke and amethyst ojime
Provenance
Possibly purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner during her trip to Japan in 1883.
Dimensions
9 x 6 cm (3 9/16 x 2 3/8 in.)
Commentary
Depicting a cicada alighted on a piece of wood, the inroopens at the side to reveal five tiny drawers. A basket outlined in gold appears on the back. The netsuke is crystal carved in the shape of an eggplant; the sliding clasp (ojime) is amethyst.
Source: “Japanese Objects,” in Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia, edited by Alan Chong and Noriko Murai (Boston: ISGM and Gutenberg Periscope, 2009): 414.
Gallery
Little Salon
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 146. (as Japanese, dated 18th-19th century)Yasuko Horioka et al. Oriental and Islamic Art: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1975), pp. 89-90, no. 40a. (as early 19th century)“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 8, no. 30 (28 Mar. 1965), p. 2.Alan Chong and Noriko Murai. Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2009), pp. 411, 414 fig. 9. (as possibly purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner in Japan, 1883)Holly Salmon, "From Tree Sap to Tea Jar: East Asian Lacquer," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 9 February 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/tree-sap-tea-jar-east-asian-lacquer
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