Object details
Object number
CR34n29.a-e
Creator(s)
Japanese
Title
Three-Tiered Lunch Box (Bento-bako)
Date
late 19th century - early 20th century
Medium
Lacquered cedar
Provenance
Gift from Okakura Kakuzo (1862-1913), Japanese art historian and philosopher, to Denman Waldo Ross (1853-1935), art collector and design theorist, 1908.
Gift from Denman Ross to Isabella Stewart Gardner, 27 August 1916.
Commentary
Okakura Kakuzō (1862-1913) gave this lunch box to his friend Denman Waldo Ross (1853-1935) in 1908 when they were traveling together in Japan. Ross knew that Okakura and Isabella Stewart Gardner were close friends and so, after Okakura’s death, Ross gave the lunch box to Gardner in 1916.
Bibliography
William Thrasher and Caroline Graboys. "The Beginnings of Chanoyu in America." Chanoyu Quarterly (1984), pp. 32-33. (as Japanese)
Alan Chong and Noriko Murai. Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2009), pp. 35-36, 393, 410-11, 415, 418, fig. 2. (as Japanese, as dated late 19th century or early 20th century)
Gallery
Chinese Room
Rights and reproductions
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