Of rounded rectilinear form with slightly domed kabusebuta (overhanging lid), of nando suzuribako type with a storage space for paper below and a kakego (tray) above, the exterior finished in gold nashiji flakes over a roiro black lacquer ground, the decoration in gold hiramaki-e and takamaki-e with a few details in black lacquer and some passages of dense gold kinpun, depicting a suisha or mizuguruma (waterwheel for irrigation), with four shirasagi (egrets) flying above in a formation that echoes the curve of the wheel, another egret below just taking to the air, their necks folded in a characteristic S-shape, the sides of the box with further egrets and the lower part of the wheel, the kakego with three more egrets, the river and reeds, the kakego fitted with a frame securing a suzuri (ink-grinding stone) and a copper suiteki (water dropper) in the form of a water-plant bud and leaves and with a fudekake (brush rest) to either side, the bases black lacquer with sparse gold hirame flakes; silvered metal cord fittings in the form of cherry blossoms



Comes with a wood fitted tomobako storage box inscribed Gunro suisha maki-e on-suzuribako (Box for Writing Utensils with Waterwheel and Egret Design in Maki-e)



Combining the motifs of a waterwheel and a flight of egrets, an anonymous master lacquerer here creates an original design with few recorded parallels in traditional Japanese art: compositions including a waterwheel, bridge, and willow had been a favorite subject for screen painting since the end of the sixteenth century but this pairing with egrets is rarely, if ever, seen in any medium. While the maki-e techniques used are conventional, the artist has deployed the elements of the design with a simplicity and boldness that recalls the Rinpa tradition, which was enjoying a revival when this box was made, probably during the early to middle decades of the nineteenth century.