Writing box with a temple in a rainstorm c. 1910 - 1925

This writing box with a temple in a rainstorm was made by Koda Shuetsu, who lived from 1881 to 1933. It's a lovely thing. The surface is dark, almost black, but there's this glowing patch of gold that depicts the scene. It's all about the contrast between the dark, polished lacquer and the soft, shimmering gold. You can see the way the gold is applied in tiny, delicate strokes. It gives the temple and the surrounding landscape a hazy, dreamlike quality. Like you're peeking into a memory, or a half-forgotten story. I really love the idea that something as functional as a writing box could be transformed into a little portal to another world. It reminds me a bit of some of Whistler's nocturnes. Not that they look alike, but they both have this way of capturing a mood, a fleeting moment in time, with such simple means. Art is cool like that.