Collection
Inkstone Case with “Waga Yado no” (My Home) Design
| Inkstone Case with “Waga Yado no” (My Home) Design |
| Height 5.3 cm, width 23.2 cm, depth 22.3 cm; Muromachi period, 14th century; Important Cultural Property; Gift of the Ii Family |
This case, designed to hold ink and an inkstone for writing purposes, was a gift to second daimyo Ii Naotaka as a memento of its former owner, second shogun Tokugawa Hidetada. The case has indented corners (irizumi) and a lid in the kabusebuta-zukuri overlapping style. The lid is decorated with chrysanthemums, butterflies, and mandarin ducks in gold maki-e on a black lacquer ground. Artfully worked into the composition are the characters 我 and 乃, which are thought to allude to a poem beginning with the words 我宿の (Waga yado no; literally “of my home”).
