Writing Box with Portrait of Fujiwara no Ietaka and His Poem about the Tatsuta River
Alongside a portrait of its author, Fujiwara no Ietaka (1158–1237), the poem on the lid of this writing box is rendered in fine lacquer decoration (hiramaki-e) to imitate calligraphy in ink. The embellishment of the box’s interior, with autumn maple leaves amid the waves of a river, is inspired by the poem, which reads:
竜田川 紅葉をとづる うすごほり
わたらば是も なかやたえなむ
On Tatsuta River,
A layer of red maple leaves
is trapped within thin ice,
and if we were to go across
the brocade would be torn.
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