https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/112438/fullRyoshibako (document box) with a design of poetry and card gamemid-19th century5 3/8 × 13 3/16 × 16 13/16 inches (13.7 × 33.5 × 42.7 cm);
With storage box: approx. 6 3/4 × 12 × 15 5/8 inches (17.1 × 30.5 × 39.7 cm)Lacquer and goldGift of Helen Anbinder, Class of 1962, and Paul Anbinder, Class of 19602023.051.0150Completely covered with shiny black lacquer, this document box (ryoshi bako) is decorated with layers of cards from the poem matching game, Hyakunin isshu. The game consists of two hundred cards, half of which are decorated with short poems (tanka) and the other half with the portraits of the hundred different authors who composed them. As one player reads a poem, the other participants must pair the poem card with its author as quickly as possible from the cards that are spread in front of them.
When the lid’s cover was still moist, it was strewn with gold flakes using the technique called hirameji. The cards as well as the scene with the ox cart are realized in gold, silver, and color hiramaki-e and takamaki-e.Decorative Arts22105953073Japanlate Edo period2023.051.015.1stview2023.051.015.2ndview2023.051.015.3rdview