About the Artwork
The fabled “Mountain of Immortality,” known as Mount Horai, is depicted on this box. It was said to be found somewhere on an island in the East China Sea and endowed with the power to insure immortality. In Japan, this was popular on early lacquer works. When the common Mount Horai imagery of cranes and tortoises frolicking on a rocky shoreline dotted with bamboo and pines was combined with an assortment of insects, birds, and flowers, a very rare and special congratulatory design was created.
Noh Theater Mask Box
17th century
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Japanese
Japanese
Lacquer on wood with maki-e (sprinkled gold powder) and metal fittings
10 5/8 × 13 7/8 × 9 5/8 inches (27 × 35.2 × 24.4 cm)
Lacquer
Asian Art
Founders Society Purchase, Ralph Harman Booth Bequest Fund, Abraham Borman Family Fund, Joseph H. Boyer Memorial Fund, Benson and Edith Ford Fund, Henry Ford II Fund and K. T. Keller Fund
1983.38
Public Domain
Markings
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Provenance
Klaus F. Naumann;1983-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Haino Akio, "Horai Maki-e Men Bako," Nihon Shikko, Feb 1983, pp 2-4.
Kacho No Bi, Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, Oct 5-Nov 14, 1982, p 162, no 204.
Bulletin of the DIA 61, no 4: Annual Report 1984, p 22, fig 20.
Mitchell, S., "A portfolio of East Asian lacquers," Apollo, vol 124, no. 298. (December 1986): p 76, (ill).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Japanese, Noh Theater Mask Box, 17th century, Lacquer on wood with maki-e (sprinkled gold powder) and metal fittings. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Ralph Harman Booth Bequest Fund, Abraham Borman Family Fund, Joseph H. Boyer Memorial Fund, Benson and Edith Ford Fund, Henry Ford II Fund and K. T. Keller Fund, 1983.38.
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