So far I’ve talked about writing boxes (suzuri bako) and portable writing sets (yatate), but I have yet really begun to talk about the implements that were necessary for calligraphy.  Now I’ve always known about the inkstone (suzuri), ink stick (sumi), and the brushes (fude), and understood the general technique for making the ink into a liquid; put some water on the stone, grind the stick on said stone, and the ink would pool up in the little well at the bottom.  The one necessary thing I never thought of was how to get the water to the stone; but now I know, and so shall you, a simple device called a suiteki.

The concept is very simple, a vessel with two holes, one for airflow and one for the water.  The water hole is sized to allow just a few drops of water out at a time.  I won’t go into too much specific detail more than that at this time, we’ll save that for later posts on the subject.  I do want to describe this piece a bit.

Dated to around 1880’s, made out of bronze, and very small, 2-1/4″ long by 1-1/4″ wide by 5/8″ high.  It has a beautiful patina as well as a very cool old fashioned sake gourd design raised in the upper corner.  Click on the image to go to the original source for more info and pictures.  Off topic, I’m a big fan of sake, especially a nice junmai daiginjo.  Kampai.

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In case you never noticed, space has always been a premium in Japan. Over the years, starting in the Edo era, that space was created by either combining items for multi-purposes, or they became more mobile and specialized.  The zeni-bako is one example of this progression.

The merchant class was growing and they needed to be able to have a tool that combined a writing box (kakesuzuri) and a money storage chest, so that they could take in the kane (money) and also be able to take notes on the transactions, hence the zeni-bako, which combined both.  This was greatly helpful to the thriving merchant who couldn’t trouble himself with smaller transactions, or ones that might have been conducted with a lower status client.  He could send his help out on the show floor with one of these boxes to conduct business, while he sat at the back in front of his zeni-todana (more on that in a later post) with the upper echelons.

The basic design of a zeni-bako consists of a stoutly made box, usually zelkova or chestnut, and a removable half lid with a locking plate of some sort on the front face.  Also, they often had a drawer for the necessary writing accoutrement’s.

This piece has an interesting way of hiding the drawer.  I’m not sure if you can consider this to be a true kendon-buta (drop-fit door), but i think it’s cool nonetheless.  The only thing this piece is missing one tell tale design aspect, the masu, which is a coin shaped slot.  That may indicate that this piece was not used in a typical merchant shop, maybe a public bath, temple or shrine.  In any case, I think it’s a nice example of a zeni-bako.

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Here is a nice example of a Japanese writing box. These were used, as the name implies, to store the necessary items for writing as well as providing document storage. Here you would find a suzuri (inkstone), sumi (ink), fude (brushes), paper, paperweights, hanko (personal seal), as well as any other things related to writing. What is interesting to me is how the original Kakesuzuri chests (of which this is not one) influenced the original funa dansu (sea chests). Another interesting note is how kakesuzuri persisted as the name for this type of chest, and was changed depending on what region you were in to suzuri bako.

This piece got my attention because it was the first time I came across a chest with some true provenance. This is signed and dated by the maker, Kimura Magoemon, in 1880, and lists who it was made for, Sakamoto-san of Sekimura. Sugoi, ne! With a little TLC this could be a nice inclusion to your collection. The price is cheap, $250.00, but the auction is up in mere hours. Going once, going twice…

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