Writing Box with Spitting Courtesan (lid)
Unknown Artist
early to mid-1800s
Medium
Lacquered wood with maki-e (image made of sprinkled gold dust)
Dimensions
{"box":{"height":0.216,"width":0.198,"depth":0.032},"closed":{"width":0.21,"length":0.225},"cover":{"height":0.207,"width":0.207}}
Classification
Lacquer
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Worcester R. Warner Collection
Accession Number
1963.260.b
About this artwork
The design on this writing box shows a courtesan who has just completed an impressive feat of spitting the term shinobukoi (忍恋), which could be translated as “hidden love” or “unrequited love,” on an earthen wall. The phrase appeared in classical Japanese poetry anthologies produced by nobles writing in ink on the finest decorated papers. Here, the confining walls of the brothel district become a space for public announcement in graffiti, with the medium being perhaps tea.