Kesa Box with Sea-and-Shore Design in Maki-e

The Box That Held Kukai's Kesa

The Kesa Box with Sea-and-Shore Design in Maki-e (海賦蒔絵袈裟箱) is a Heian-period maki-e lacquer box owned by Kyoogokokuji (Toji) in Minami Ward, Kyoto City, which in 1953 was designated a National Treasure.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records one box 47.6 by 39.0 centimetres and 11.5 centimetres high, owned by Kyoogokokuji.

According to the Agency, it held the Kenda Kokushi Kesa said to have been brought from Tang China by Kukai.

Design

According to the Agency, it is a round-cornered box with a domed, inset lid, decorated in polished maki-e of gold and silver filings on a sprinkled ground with waves, strange fish and flying birds.

Gold powder is lightly sprinkled on black lacquer, with the waves in silver and the birds and fish in polished gold maki-e.

What to Look For

The Agency notes that a record of the New Year rites of 1182 lists a maki-e box with sea designs holding the kesa, and it values the box as an important example of Heian maki-e.

It has been handed down at Toji together with the National Treasure Kenda Kokushi Kesa as a treasure associated with Kobo Daishi.

Visiting the Kesa Box with Sea-and-Shore Design in Maki-e

The box is owned by Toji and is not always on display; check the temple's announcements.