An oblong writing box with an overlapping lid and beveled lid edges. The top of the lid shows paulownia and bamboo on a sandbar finished in burnished (togidashi) maki-e on a hirameji surface with exposed metal flakes. The same design is depicted on the inside of the lid. Broken twigs of paulownia and bamboo are scattered over the body and the nested boxes. The leaf veins and stem nodes are rendered using the kakiwari technique, reserving black lines against the maki-e areas, and partly engraved in lacquer with a needle (harigaki). There are similar examples of the paulownia and bamboo design from the Northern and Southern Court period, suggesting that this valuable writing box dates back to medieval Japan. As a treasured object belonging to Matsudaira Harusato (Fumai), seventh daimyo of the Matsue Domain, the box is also listed in Matsudaira's inventory of objects.
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