Noh Theater Mask Box with Design of Insects and Mount Horai, late 16^th-early 17^th century
Japanese, Momoyama period
Lacquer with gold maki-e
Founders Society Purchase, Ralph Harman Booth Bequest Fund, Abraham Borman Family Fund, Joseph H. Boyer Memorial Fund, Benson and Edith Ford Fund, Henry Ford II Fund, and K. T. Keller Fund
1983.38

Depicted on this box is the fabled "Mountain of Immortality", known as Mount Horai. It was believed to be located on an island in the East China Sea and endowed with the power to ensure immortality. In Japan, this theme was popular on early lacquer works. When the Mount Horai imagery of cranes and tortoises frolicking on a rocky shoreline dotted with bamboo and pines was combined with an assortment of insects, birds, and flowers, a very rare and special congratulatory design was created.