Box for Poem Papers

Description "Shikishi" is decorated paper, upon which would be written a Japanese or a Chinese poem. The poem sheets could be kept in boxes like this one, turned into albums, or mounted on screens or as hanging scrolls. This box mimics in appearance two overlapping sheets of traditional "shikishi"-the lower a silver sheet with swirling clouds, the upper a golden sheet decorated with autumn flowers by a stream, with flakes of gold confetti sprinkled at the top.

Exhibitions

• Imperial Japan: The Art of the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Herbert F. Johnson, Ithaca; Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute- Museum of Art, Utica; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati; Portland Art Museum, Portland. 1980-1981.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters