Inkstone Case with Poetic Scene of Shio no Yama in Makie

The design of this inkstone case is derived from a waka poem in the poetry anthology Kokin Wakashu: Plovers that inhabit the rocky coast of the Salt Cape, sing that the reign of Your Majesty may last forever. The lid is decorated in a colorful variety of decorative lacquer techniques: plovers in gold makie and silver inlay on thickly laid nashiji ground, high-relief makie rocks, a gold ikakeji and silver-dotted seashore and polished makie wave patterns. Selected characters from the poem in cursive Chinese script are integrated into the rock patterns. The design as a whole follows the traditionally Japanese Yamato-e style, but details of the rocks adopt some Chinese-style means of expression. This inkstone case is considered a representative lacquer work of the Muromachi Period for its design and techniques.

— Museum description: Kyoto National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.