The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Tray for Sewing Tools

Tray for Sewing Tools

1800s
Diameter: 33.1 cm (13 1/16 in.); Overall: 9.6 cm (3 3/4 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Many thin layers of lacquer were applied to the tray's leather core. The design was cut into the dry lacquer and then the mother-of-pearl was inserted.

Description

This mother-of-pearl lacquer tray is decorated with various scenes of animals interacting with their natural surroundings. Its flat circular base depicts a pond where a leaping carp and a small school of fish swim below the boughs of a cherry tree. The tray’s exterior wall is densely decorated with various animals paired with plants symbolizing wishful thoughts of longevity, marital happiness, and prosperity.
  • ?-1987
    (Masaaki Yoshida, Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1987-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hwang, Ji-hyeon and Sadamu Kawada. Korean Lacquerware Inlaid with Mother-of-Pearl: the Everlasting Beauty. Seoul: National Museum of Korea: 2010.
    Korean Lacquer Art: Aesthetic Perfection, Munich: Hirmer Publishers, 2013.
    Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
    McCormick, Sooa Im. "Stitches empowered: Korean embroidery arts form the Joseon Dynasty" Orientations 51, no. 1 (2020): 60-67. Reproduced: p. 63, fig. 5
    Ch'a, Mi-rae, Kwi-suk An, Cleveland Museum of Art, and 국외소재문화재재단. The Korean Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Edited by An Min-hŭi. First edition, English ed. Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Series, 16. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 232-233, no. 128
  • Gold Needles: Embroidery Arts from Korea. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 7-October 25, 2020).
    Asian Autumn: Later Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 1992-January 3, 1993).
    The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Tray for Sewing Tools|url=false|author=|year=1800s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1987.42