Object details

Accession number

CR34n33

Primary Creator

Niiro Chunosuke (Japan, 1868 - 1954)

Full title

Pagoda

Creation Date

about 1922

Provenance

Gift from Mr. and Mrs. Tomita Kojiro (1890-1976), scholar of Japanese art and head of the Asiatic Arts section of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to Isabella Stewart Gardner on 25 June 1924, along with plum blossoms collected in Japan at the grave of Okakura Kakuzo's (1862-1913), Japanese art historian, philosopher, and friend of Gardner.

Dimensions

11 cm (4 5/16 in.)

Display Media

Carved wood

Web Commentary

When Tomita Kojiro (1890-1976) gave this pagoda to Isabella Stewart Gardner on June 25th, 1924, it was filled with plum blossoms from the grave of Okakura Kakuzō (1862-1913). Both Niiro Chūnosuke (1869-1954), who carved this pagoda, and Tomita were connected to Gardner because of their shared friendships with Okakura.

Permanent Gallery Location

Chinese Room

Bibliography

Alan Chong and Noriko Murai. Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2009), pp. 35-36 fig. 35, 50 n. 123.Talia Andrei. “Isabella’s Reliquary of Friendship: Her Bond With Okakura Kakuzō.” Inside the Collection Blog, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, accessed 2022. www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-reliquary-friendship-her-bond-okakura-kakuzo

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