Pagoda
sculptor
Niiro Chunosuke
(Japan, 1868 - 1954)
Dateabout 1922
Place MadeJapan, East Asia
MediumCarved wood
Dimensions11 cm (4 5/16 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberCR34n33
eMuseum ID730412
Previous NumberC131-9
EmbARK ObjectID17221
TMS Source ID5515
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryWhen Tomita Kojiro (1890-1976) gave this pagoda to Isabella Stewart Gardner on June 25th, 1924, it was filled with plum blossoms from the grave of Okakura Kakuzō (1862-1913). Both Niiro Chūnosuke (1869-1954), who carved this pagoda, and Tomita were connected to Gardner because of their shared friendships with Okakura.
BibliographyNotesAlan Chong and Noriko Murai. Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2009), pp. 35-36 fig. 35, 50 n. 123.
Talia Andrei, "Isabella's Reliquary of Friendship: Her Bond with Okakura Kakuzō," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 18 October 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-reliquary-friendship-her-bond-okakura-kakuzo
Talia Andrei, "Isabella's Reliquary of Friendship: Her Bond with Okakura Kakuzō," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 18 October 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-reliquary-friendship-her-bond-okakura-kakuzo
ProvenanceNotesGift from Mr. and Mrs. Tomita Kojiro (1890-1976), scholar of Japanese art and head of the Asiatic Arts section of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to Isabella Stewart Gardner on 25 June 1924, along with plum blossoms collected in Japan at the grave of Okakura Kakuzo's (1862-1913), Japanese art historian, philosopher, and friend of Gardner.
Niiro Chunosuke
September 1913
