Maki'e Lacquered Kasho Chest with Design of Autumn Plants

• 22.0 x 31.5 x 38.0cm
• Momoyama Period (16th Century)
• Kodai-ji Temple, Kyoto
• Important Cultural Property
• Kyoto National Museum

The Kodai-ji Maki'e method, which was used for this chest, was a representative lacquerwork technique in the Momoyama Period. This chest is one of the most excellent extant Kodai-ji Maki'e lacquerworks.

The Kasho chest is a container for the books and scrolls on the basic education for aristocrats; anthologies such as "Man'yo-shu", "Kokin Waka-shu", "Shin Kokin Waka-shu", etc., were kept in it. This chest has two rows of five drawers each, and the lid is in kabuse-futa style.

The entire body is coated with black lacquer, and the surfaces of the top and sides are decorated with autumn plants such as chrysanthemums, bush clovers, Japanese pampas grasses, pinks, and Chinese bell-flowers in the Gold-hira-maki'e method. It is amazing that even the sides of the drawers, which cannot be seen from the outside, are decorated with the same motifs.