Mikami Yōkōdō 三上楊光堂
Writing Box with the Hundred Kings
Item number: T-3005Size: H 4.5" x L 10.8" x W 8.3" (11.5 x 27.5 x 21.2 cm)
Age: 1920s – 30s
Maki-e lacquer box
Inscription on outer tomobako box:
»Tebako Box with Images of the Hundred Kings« 手箱 百王之図
(end of box):
»Tebako Box with Images of the Hundred Kings« 手筥 百王之図
(inside lids):
»Made by Mikami Yōkōdō of Kyoto« 平安 三上楊光堂造之
Seals:
1) Mikami 三上
2) Yōkōdō 楊光堂
On the inside of this fine stacked rectangular writing box there is a compartment for writing paper above which is a lipped tray to hold writing utensils and a removable plate that stores the suzuri ink stone and suiteki water dropper.
The outside décor is dominated by two dramatic shishi lions in gold, silver, red and black raised takamakie lacquer; they are surrounded by stylized peonies in gold and red lacquer togidashi on a roiro black lacquer ground. The design on this writing box has an ancient Chinese origin. The legendary shishi lions were called the »king of hundred animals 百獣之王« and the peony the »king of hundred plants 百花之王.«1 Compositions that depicted both together were deemed auspicious and were called the »Hundred Kings 百王« design, as they depicted the gathering of the respective rulers of the animal and plant kingdoms.
All outside edges are rounded and lacquered in gold and red lacquer togidashi. The lid rims and the two rings to hold rope are in solid silver. The inside rims, including the suzuri ink stone rims are in silver lacquer; all other surfaces are covered
with evenly sprinkled nashiji gold flakes. The suiteki water dropper is in the shape of a butterfly and is made of silver, shibuichi, shakudō, and inlaid gold.
The superb work was made by the lacquer workshop Mikami Yōkōdō 三上 楊光堂, which under the leadership of Mikami Harunosuke 三上治助 (1850 –1920) won many honors, both in Japan as well as abroad. Objects from the workshop won prizes at several international exhibitions, including Chicago in 1893, Seattle in 1896, and Hanoi in 1903. The son of the founder, Mikami Jisaburō 三上治三郎 carried on the family tradition and won a prize at the 1937 Paris exhibition. The artists of the studio were attentive to international art movements during its time of intensive interaction with foreign fairs and it is therefore no surprise that the present writing box bears signs of foreign influence in its design. Under the leadership of Mikami Jisaburō 三上治三郎, the studio became a known leader in introducing Art Nouveau styles to Japanese audiences in the 1920s, as documented in the recent exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum for Modern Art.2
A set of two nested double tomobako boxes were made for the writing box, both of kiri-wood, the outside one with lacquer. Both tomobako boxes are signed and sealed by Mikami of the Yōkōdō Studio.
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