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The design of this box was inspired by an object in the 1639 lacquer wedding set of Chiyohime, the daughter of the shogun (ruler). Information about the set became available in the Meiji period, leading some lacquer artists to emulate its designs. This box features a scene from the chapter “First Song” (Hatsune) of the <em>Tale of Genji,</em> in which Prince Genji and his love Murasaki enjoy her garden. It incorporates the written characters for “first” (初, <em>hatsu</em>) and “sound” (音, <em>ne</em>), indicating the first song of the warbler in spring, associated with the new year—the water dropper for mixing the ink is in the shape of this bird.
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- Page
- 1
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- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 01b73c652f2961b3
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 145099
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
{
"id": "145099",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Writing Box (Suzuribako) with the “First Song” (Hatsune) Chapter from the Tale of Genji",
"description": "The design of this box was inspired by an object in the 1639 lacquer wedding set of Chiyohime, the daughter of the shogun (ruler). Information about the set became available in the Meiji period, leading some lacquer artists to emulate its designs. This box features a scene from the chapter “First Song” (Hatsune) of the <em>Tale of Genji,</em> in which Prince Genji and his love Murasaki enjoy her garden. It incorporates the written characters for “first” (初, <em>hatsu</em>) and “sound” (音, <em>ne</em>), indicating the first song of the warbler in spring, associated with the new year—the water dropper for mixing the ink is in the shape of this bird.",
"date": "early 1900s",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1970.28",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q79922962"
],
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"Lacquer"
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"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1970.28/1970.28_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 22.8 x 26.7 cm (9 x 10 1/2 in.)",
"cul": [
"Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)"
],
"accession": "1970.28"
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "145099",
"label": "Writing Box (Suzuribako) with the “First Song” (Hatsune) Chapter from the Tale of Genji",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "145099",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Writing Box (Suzuribako) with the “First Song” (Hatsune) Chapter from the Tale of Genji",
"description": "The design of this box was inspired by an object in the 1639 lacquer wedding set of Chiyohime, the daughter of the shogun (ruler). Information about the set became available in the Meiji period, leading some lacquer artists to emulate its designs. This box features a scene from the chapter “First Song” (Hatsune) of the <em>Tale of Genji,</em> in which Prince Genji and his love Murasaki enjoy her garden. It incorporates the written characters for “first” (初, <em>hatsu</em>) and “sound” (音, <em>ne</em>), indicating the first song of the warbler in spring, associated with the new year—the water dropper for mixing the ink is in the shape of this bird.",
"date": "early 1900s",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1970.28",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q79922962"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Lacquer"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1970.28/1970.28_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1970.28/1970.28_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1970.28/1970.28_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 22.8 x 26.7 cm (9 x 10 1/2 in.)",
"cul": [
"Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)"
],
"accession": "1970.28"
}
Document source extras
{
"tec": "Lacquered wood with gold and silver sprinkled powder (maki-e), foil application (kirikane), and metal inlay",
"tombstone": "Writing Box (Suzuribako) with the “First Song” (Hatsune) Chapter from the Tale of Genji (初音蒔絵硯箱), early 1900s. Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912). Lacquered wood with gold and silver sprinkled powder (maki-e), foil application (kirikane), and metal inlay; overall: 22.8 x 26.7 cm (9 x 10 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Newman T. Halvorson, 1970.28",
"titleInOriginalLanguage": "初音蒔絵硯箱",
"collection": "Japanese Art",
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1970.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, vol. 58, no. 2, 1971, pp. 22–71.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: no. 177; Mentioned: p. 71",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25152361"
},
{
"citation": "Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing.<em> Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 109"
},
{
"citation": "Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. <em>The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011.",
"page_number": "cat. no. 81"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1970.28",
"creditline": "Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Newman T. Halvorson",
"updatedAt": "2026-05-29 07:27:18.877000",
"imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1970.28/1970.28_print.jpg",
"sourceId": 145099,
"dept": "Japanese Art",
"coll": "Japanese Art",
"med": "Lacquered wood with gold and silver sprinkled powder (maki-e), foil application (kirikane), and metal inlay",
"thumbnail_url": null,
"image_url": null
}
Page context
{
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