Covered Box (Kinsenmon tōban)

The geometry of this ceramic box is enhanced by its faceted cover, and its surfaces are enriched by vivid enamel stripes of blue and green with intervening gold lines. The color scheme, which harks back to 8th-century Chinese blue-and-green landscapes of the Tang dynasty (618–907), later became popular in Japan. The jewel-tone colors may refer to the later Rimpa tradition of decorative painting and ceramics in the Edo period (1615-1868), when government controls prohibited the excessive use of gold by artists. However, this box and lid hide the gold by lavishly lining the vessel's interiors with the precious metal.