Reading Stand with Chrysanthemums and Autumn Grasses

Japanese reading stands often incorporate motifs associated with seasonal poetry. The combination of long, narrow, miscanthus grass, bush clover with its small, ovoid leaves, and chrysanthemum with its many-petaled blossoms is classic autumnal imagery. One lacquer technique featured prominently on the stand is sprinkled gold in low relief ( hiramaki-e ). Pear-skin ground design ( nashiji-e ) is used for the slopes of the ground and in some of the leaves.