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Writing box decorated with cranes in reeds

Photo: Paul Macapia

Writing box decorated with cranes in reeds

early 17th century

Hon'ami Koetsu

Japanese, 1558 - 1637

Black and gold lacquer on wood, lead and pewter plates
3 3/16 x 8 9/16 x 9 1/8 in. (8.1 x 21.8 x 23.2 cm)
Gift of Mrs. Donald E. Frederick
50.67
Photo: Paul Macapia
location
Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Media

130
130
Akio Takamori talks about the design of Hon'ami Koetsu's writing box

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "A Thousand Years of Beauty: Japanese Art in Seattle", July 16, 2001 - November 17, 2002

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Refined Harmony: Decorative Arts from the Edo Period", March 7, 2003 - March 23, 2004

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "A Thousand Years of Beauty: Japanese Art in Seattle", July 26, 2001 - November 17, 2002, (7/26/01 - 11/17/02)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Masterpieces of Japanese Art from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum", November 1998 - March 1999 (11/1998-3/1999)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "A Thousand Cranes: Treasures of Japanese Art", February 5 - July 12, 1987 (02/05/1987 - 07/12/1987)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Flights of Fancy: Natural and Supernatural Images In Japanese Art", December 9, 1998 - August 1, 1999

New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Art Gallery, "Word in Flower: The Visualization of Classical Literature in 17th Century Japan", September 22 - November 12, 1989. (09/22/1989 - 11/12/1989)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "50 Years: A Legacy of Asian Art" June 30, 1983 - May 30, 1984 (6/30/1983-5/30/1984)

Kansas City, Missouri, Nelson-Atkins Gallery of Art, "Art of Japan in Edo Period", 1958. Circuit: City Art Museum, St. Louis, MO. (1958 - 1958)

Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, "Japanese Decorative Style", 1961 Circuit: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. (1961 - 1961)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum", 1960. (1960 - 1960)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.
Published References"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 98 (b&w)

Fuller, Richard E. "Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 139a and b

Thomas, Edward B. "Oriental Art in the Seattle Art Museum," in Art in America, no. 1, 1965, illus. p. 57

Knight, Michael, "East Asian Lacquers in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1992, no. 17, pp. 23-24

"Seattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures." London: Scala Publishers Ltd. for the Seattle Art Museum, 2007, p. 68, illus. p. 69

Bixenstine Safford, Lisa. "Art at the Crossroads: Lacquer Painting in French Vietnam." Transcultural Studies, no. 1 (August 2015): p. 139, reproduced fig. 5.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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