Heian Mitsuaki and Mitsuishi (active early 20th century)An inlaid suzuribako (writing box)Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era, early 20th centuryWith a domed cover, decorated in Rinpa style in black lacquer on a bright kinji ground with inlays of simulated pewter depicting rocks in crashing waves and a classical poem, the characters inlaid in silver, the interior with a continuation of the design and fitted with a rectangular inkstone and silver water dropperWith two wood tomobako storage boxes, the inner box inscribed on the cover Korin Suminoe maki-e suzuribako no utsushi (Copied from the Suminoe writing box by [Ogata] Korin), signed on the underside Mitsuaki hitsu (Brushed by Mitsuaki), and signed and sealed Heian Mitsuishi 10 3/8 x 10 5/8 x 3in (27 x 25.5 x 7.5cm)注脚ProvenancePurchased from Erik Thomsen Asian Art, Bensheim, September, 2004.PublishedStephen Little and Edmund J. Lewis, View of the Pinnacle: Japanese Lacquer Writing Boxes: The Lewis Collection of Suzuribako, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2011, cat. no. 42This writing box is a faithful reproduction of a famous writing box by Ogata Korin (1658-1716), designated as an Important Cultural Property and now in the Seikado Bunko Museum, Tokyo. The poem, rendered here in inlaid silver characters, reads as follows: Suminoe no / kishi ni yoru nami / yoru sae ya / yume no kayoiji / hitome yoguramu (At Suminoe / the waves break upon the shore / even in the night / Like them will you soon draw near / along the pathway of dreams?).