Page 305 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

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227 Bridal trousseau On the first shelf is a set of utensils for the
maki-e, red and black lacquer on incense game (cats. 233, 234) and on the
wood; gilt copper, silver and nickel bottom shelf is a suzuribako (writing uten-
zushidana 75.8 x 101.9 x 39.7 (293/4 x sil box; cats. 224, 225, 226). A clothes rack
40 Vs x 155/3) and wash basin are displayed in front. Set
kurodana 71.2 x 77.5 x 38.4 (28 x 30^2 x out before the kurodana are a kushidai
15^/8) (comb stand), and to the left, a set of oha-
x
shodana 103.9 x loo -° 44-° (407/8 x guro equipment for blackening the teeth
393/8 x 173/8) (cats. 229, 230); the distinctive red-
Edo period, i9th century cornered box on the kurodana contains
cosmetic paraphernalia. The shodana
Hôfu Môri Hôkôkai, holds articles related to reading and writ-
Yamaguchi Prefecture ing; in front is a cast nickel mirror on its
folding holder, with the storage box to the
The Edo-period daimyo bride brought to right.
her new home an elaborate set of house- This set was used by the daughter of
hold furnishings reflecting the power and Narihiro (1783-1836), the tenth-genera-
prestige of the daimyo family. The con- tion Mori daimyo of the Hagi domain in
tents of the trousseau were established by present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture, when
the early Edo period. A typical trousseau
she married into the Mori branch
centered around three sets of shelves, the Tokuyama. The many constituent family of
parts
zushidana (right), the kurodana (black are decorated with a plum blossom floral
shelves) (center), and the shodana (book scroll and latticework design, and the wa-
shelves) (left). Included are most of the ter plantain mon, a family crest used by
things required for personal use, such as, the Mori. These motifs are executed in
on top of the zushidana, a large box con- gold and silver hiramaki-e (level maki-e) lac-
taining smaller boxes of cosmetic items. quer. The arabesque plum blossom design
is executed in alternating hiramaki-e and
enashiji, in which designs are depicted
with nashiji (pear-skin ground). The fit-
tings are gilt copper, engraved with the wa-
ter plantain mon and a floral scroll. SN

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