Late Edo Period (19th c.)／Lacquered wood
Stand: H 9.2 cm; Mouth dia. 7.0 cm, flange dia. 15.4 cm, bottom dia. 8.4 cm
SUMMARY
This stand for porcelain tea cups with matching lid was part of Tenshoin Atsuhime’s wedding furniture. Items of Atsuhime’s wedding furniture are rare—only four have been identified in and outside Japan. They are kept by the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, the Smithsonian Institution in America, the Tokugawa Memorial Foundation, and Osaka Aoyama Junior College. Atsuhime, who was born in Satsuma Domain, became the adopted daughter of Konoe Tadahiro, Minister of the Right, in 1856. That November, she became the legal wife of the thirteenth shogun, Tokugawa Iesada. The piece features the Konoe family crest, a peony surrounded by leaves, the Tokugawa crest, a three-leaf hollyhock, and a hollyhock arabesque design.
ARTIST
Marriage Furniture for Tenshoin Atsuhime
Probably due to the evacuation of the Edo castle at the end of Edo Period, only few wedding furniture of Atsuhime remain today. Only four have been identified including Black Female Palanquin with Design of Family Crests and Hollyhock Arabesque in Maki-e Lacquer (collection of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution in America), Akodauri Incense Burner (Design of Family Crests and Hollyhock Arabesque in Maki-e Lacquer on Muranashi-ji Foundation) (collection of the Tokugawa Memorial Foundation), An Incense Set with Design of Family Crests and Hollyhock Arabesque in Maki-e Lacquer on Nashi-ji Foundation (collection of Osaka Aoyama University and Junior College), and Tea-bowl Stand and Lid with Design of Family Crests and Hollyhock Arabesque in Maki-e Lacquer (collection of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum), all of which have a hollyhock arabesque design. Since the design matches the one documented in A List of Wedding Furniture of Atsuhime, the four items are believed to be the wedding furniture of Tenshoin Atsuhime.
List of artworks by the same artist
INFORMATION
Friday, October 8 - Sunday, November 14, 2021
From the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Collection: “THIS IS JAPAN” Eternal Japanese Art Oita Art Museum (Oita, Japan)
Sunday, August 25 - Sunday, September 29, 2019
This Is Japan In Kyoto From The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Collection The Museum of Kyoto (Kyoto, Japan)
Saturday, March 24 - Sunday, May 27, 2018
OEDO EXHIBITION NAGASAKI Nagasaki Prefectual Art Museum (Nagasaki, Japan)
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