Picnic Set
1880-1930 (made)
| Place of origin |
This miniature picnic set is part of a Japanese Dolls' Festival (hina matsuri) set. The Dolls' Festival is traditionally celebrated by girls on 3rd March. The focal point of this festival is the display of dolls, model furniture and household accessories. The more elaborate of these sets are arranged on tiered shelves in the home and celebrated with special food of diamond-shaped rice cakes and sake. This group also consists of several incomplete sets of miniature lacquer furniture and daily utensils, to which this picnic set belongs. Picnic sets were used by the urban merchant and artisan class for excursions, such as viewing the spring cherry-blossoms. This set consists of a highly decorated carrying frame, a tiered food box, and two sake (rice wine) bottles. Trays on which to serve the food and saucers to serve the drink are undoubtedly missing. If they could afford it, a family would possess a high-quality set of lacquered items, which were passsed down from generation to generation. This accounts for the incomplete nature of this particular grouping. It also suggests that they not only had sentimental value, but were also of artistic merit.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 14 parts. (Some alternative part names are also shown below)
|
| Materials and techniques | Lacquered wood and gold hiramaki-e |
| Brief description | Miniature picnic set, wood covered in black lacquer with flowers and mon in gold lacquer, part of a hina-matsuri (Dolls' Festival) set, Japan, late 19th century-early 20th century. |
| Physical description | Miniature picnic case, on four feet and with a metal handle, consisting of a food box of four tiers and a single lid, a top drawer, and a box with a lid on which stand two miniature bottles with lids. Wood covered in black lacquer decorated with peonies, floral scrolls and two mon (family badges) in gold hiramaki-e lacquer. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Given by Fumie Kosuge |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This miniature picnic set is part of a Japanese Dolls' Festival (hina matsuri) set. The Dolls' Festival is traditionally celebrated by girls on 3rd March. The focal point of this festival is the display of dolls, model furniture and household accessories. The more elaborate of these sets are arranged on tiered shelves in the home and celebrated with special food of diamond-shaped rice cakes and sake. This group also consists of several incomplete sets of miniature lacquer furniture and daily utensils, to which this picnic set belongs. Picnic sets were used by the urban merchant and artisan class for excursions, such as viewing the spring cherry-blossoms. This set consists of a highly decorated carrying frame, a tiered food box, and two sake (rice wine) bottles. Trays on which to serve the food and saucers to serve the drink are undoubtedly missing. If they could afford it, a family would possess a high-quality set of lacquered items, which were passsed down from generation to generation. This accounts for the incomplete nature of this particular grouping. It also suggests that they not only had sentimental value, but were also of artistic merit. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | FE.19:1 to 14-2003 |
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| Record created | March 10, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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