Unknown
Japanese

Picnic Set with Food Boxes and a Sake Bottle, 19th c. CE, Edo - Meiji period
lacquer and gold on wood; gold, silver, and red nashiji and hiramaki-e lacquer; metal handle and fittings; signed "Ipposai"
13 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 13 5/8 in.

SBMA, Gift of F. Bailey Vanderhoef, Jr
1991.148.98a-i

RESEARCH PAPER

The Japanese are lovers of nature and the seasons of the year. Autumn and spring have been their favorite; poets particularly celebrated autumn. The image of maple leaves was a popular motif for lacquer, ceramic and textile decoration as well as for painting.

The Japanese took lacquered food boxes for their picnics to scenic spots. These were known as "Jubako" (layered boxes) and were used to store delicacies for special occasions like New Year’s Day and for outings such as viewing the cherry blossoms and autumn leaves. This particular picnic set is unusual for being tiered on one side and being open on the other side carrying a sake container in "sho" instrument shape.

The motif of musical instruments is also displayed on the box. What makes this of special interest is that they are the combination used in the ancient performance of "gagaku" which means elegant and refined music. This kind of music came to the court of Japan in the 6th century from China and Korea. The Japanese Music Bureau, established in 701, had many Chinese musicians as well as Koreans. This is perhaps the oldest continuing orchestral music in the world. Performances are still given along with "bugaku" which combines the music with dances. In the Heian period (794-1185) "gagaku" was not only a part of the court ceremonies, but was performed by amateur groups of noblemen and played for banquets. In the modern period the musical art continues with a small orchestra at the imperial palace and smaller ensembles at temples and shrines.

Among the instruments depicted on the box is the large sized "da-daiko" drum which has a pear shape topped by a thin rod accented by a star-like emblem. It is used only for "bugaku" dance pieces. The string instrument shown is the "biwa", a pear shaped lute with four strings. Another stringed instrument is the predecessor of the "koto" which lies down horizontally and has sounds similar to a harp.

It is the woodwinds that carry the main melodic line and give "gagaku" its distinctive sound. One of them called "hichiriki" has the nasal sound of an oboe. The Japanese author of the famous "Pillow Book" written in the Heian period compared the sound to the "noisy crickets of autumn". The most exotic of the wind instruments is the "sho", a set of seventeen reed pipes that are placed in a cup-shaped wind chest. Its Chinese predecessor is said to be the oldest known pipe organ. The "sho" can produce eleven chords. To change from one chord to another the player must build to a crescendo and use much breath control. The sounds produced are called ethereal and are aid to imitate the cry of the phoenix bird.

The picnic set has such unique iconography it was probably carried by an important family to a special fall festival. In late October was one at the Heian Shrine in Kyoto, considered one of the most spectacular annual events. "Bugaku" is also performed in the autumn at Ise, the most important Shinto shrine in Japan dedicated to the imperial ancestors.

Japanese Lacquer and technique:
The craftsman shapes the wood and covers it with hemp. A coat of lacquer is applied and must dry before another is added. Each layer is ground and polished and there may be as many as thirty coats added in the process.

The Japanese used a special decorative technique known as "maki-e" (sprinkled design) in which the design is executed in gold and silver powder. This began in the Nara period of the 7th century. In the Momoyama period of the 15th and 16th centuries the solid gold "hira-maki-e" (flat maki-e) technique was favored, in which the sprinkled gold powder is scarcely raised above the surface of the piece.

Another technique that was used in this period was "nashi-ji" (pear ground) named for its likeness to the texture of a Japanese pear. Small irregularly shaped particles of gold, gold-silver alloy and silver are scattered over the wet ground and are then covered with a layer of translucent lacquer in which they seem to be suspended. This elaborate decoration continued in the Edo period.

Prepared for SBMA Docent Council By Patricia Cleek, n.d.

Bibliography:
Malm, William, Japanese Music & Musical Instruments, Vermont & Tokyo, 1959
Momoyama Japanese Art in the Age of Grandeur, New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1975
Munsteburg, Hugo, The Art of Japan, Vermont & Tokyo, 1967
Murase, Miyako, Jewel Rivers – Japanese Art from the Burke Collection, 1994

SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS

The decorations on this picnic set and the unusual sake bottle in the shape of a pipe organ (shō) reflect a playful aesthetic (asobi) popular during the Edo period. The dance headdresses under brilliant red maples, along with a zither, a lute, a flute, and a drum in a flame-embellished frame, are accoutrements for the performance of bugaku, a court dance, once reserved for the enjoyment of courtiers. The noble pursuit of ancient courtiers now playfully embellishes a utilitarian object made to delight contemporary townspeople during picnics and autumn maple viewings.

- Asian Art Reopening, 2021

This picnic set, embellished with a design featuring accoutrements for a court dance under brilliant red maples, was intended specifically for enjoying a late autumn outing. The pictured headdresses and instruments were for a performance of "bugaku", a court dance imported from Tang China in the eighth century. The dances were accompanied by music from a lute ("biwa"), a zither ("koto"), vertical and horizontal flutes, and a drum in a flame-embellished frame, as seen painted on the side of stacked food boxes. The red-based sake vessel standing next to the stack of food boxes is in the shape of a pipe organ ("shō"). The shaping of a utilitarian object to mimic a different object was a common form of play in art, an aesthetic referred to as "asobi", which was most popular from the 17th through the 19th centuries in Japan.

- Paths of Gold, 2018

The decorations on this picnic set are unusual and subtly humorous, suggestive of an outdoor performance. The design of musical instruments (drums, zither, lute, and flute) and dance helmets under the maple tree attempts to link contemporary townspeople’s love of picnics to the noble pursuits of ancient courtiers for whom music and dance were sacred activities. Even the sake bottle takes the form of a kansho, a reed instrument akin to the panpipe. The maple leaves may also imply that this set was meant for autumnal outings to view the changing foliage or harvest moon.

- Asian Gallery, 2012