Cleveland Museum of Art

Reading Stand with Chrysanthemums and Autumn Grasses

Date

early 1600s

Medium

Wood with lacquer, sprinkled gold powder (maki-e), and metal fittings

Culture

Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Japanese reading stands often incorporate motifs associated with seasonal poetry. The combination of long, narrow, miscanthus grass, bush clover with its small, ovoid leaves, and chrysanthemum with its many-petaled blossoms is classic autumnal imagery. One lacquer technique featured prominently on the stand is sprinkled gold in low relief ( hiramaki-e ). Pear-skin ground design ( nashiji-e ) is used for the slopes of the ground and in some of the leaves. Dew on chrysanthemum is seasonal imagery symbolizing the approach of winter.

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