Hyakusō makie kusuritansu to Iizuka Tōyō: jūyō bunkazai shitei kinen tokubetsuten = The medicine chest with herb design by Iizuka Tōyō : special exhibition commemorating designation as an Important Cultural Property

Abstract

"The Medicine Chest with Herb Design was handed down by the Hachisuka clan, lords of the Tokushima domain (in today's Tokushima Prefecture). The inscription on it tells us that it was created in the eleventh month of 1771 by lizuka Tōyō (d. 1790), a maki-e lacquer artist serving the Tokushima domain. The most remarkable features of this work are the hundred types of herbs and insects for medical use precisely rendered in togidashi maki-e (polished maki-e) on the inside of its front panel. It was designated an Important Cultural Property this year for its significance in terms of the history both of maki-e and of pharmacology. This medicine chest is thought to have been made for Hachisuka Shigeyoshi, who employed Tōyō. Considering the state of the Hachisuka clan at the time and trends in illustrated natural history works, however, it is possible that this chest was created as a gift for the Matsudaira clan, lords of the Takamatsu domain (in today's Kagawa Prefecture), with whom the Hachisuka had important political relations. This exhibition explores the context in which the Medicine Chest with Herb Design was created, the intersection of natural history studies and art in the latter half of the eighteenth century. It is also the first exhibition to introduce signature works by lizuka Tōyō as a group"-- Foreword, Kōichi Nezu.