Description
This incense box is colorfully decorated with the technique of oxhorn plating. The oxhorn was cut, soaked in water, boiled, and then pressed into thin translucent sheets. Since oxhorns are usually rather small, dozens of them were required to fully decorate even a small wooden object. The lid of this container is colorfully illustrated with the imagery of a dragon amid clouds deemed as an auspicious symbol, and its side presents flying dragon and phoenix following one after another.
Provenance
(Masaaki Yoshida, Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?-1988); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1988-)
Accession Number
1988.54
Medium
Painted wood with flattened ox-horn inlay
Dimensions
Diameter: 7.2 cm (2 13/16 in.); Overall: 3.6 cm (1 7/16 in.)
Classification
Miscellaneous
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund