The Set of Three Stacked Sweet Boxes-Plum

Master Yamanaka Tadasu was not only an artist but also an educator who emphasized aesthetic education through observation and taught his students the techniques of crafting wood-core lacquerware. This set of three stacked sweet boxes, inspired by the 'Three Friends of Winter' – pine, bamboo, and plum – was created by Yamanaka Ko after his return to Japan following the war, for entry into a Japanese competition. While unsigned on the bottom, the wooden box housing the three pieces bears his handwritten ink signature. The 'Pine' box is the smallest, featuring stylized pine needles in a rhombic geometric pattern. On the raised surface of takamaki-e (high relief lacquer), the subtle variations of the pine needles are rendered using the metallic sheen of hirame fun (flat gold/silver powder) and silver powder, while the trunk is depicted in a more realistic style. The 'Bamboo' box is medium-sized, larger than the pine but smaller than the plum. It utilizes hirame fun and silver powder to depict the sheen on delicate bamboo leaves, with fine veins exquisitely outlined on the takamaki-e. The largest 'Plum' box, which can hold the bamboo and pine boxes, employs the luster of silver powder and kin-hirame fun (flat gold powder) to fully express both the budding blossoms and the fully bloomed, multi-petaled plum flowers.