#jubako

Stacked Food Box (Jūbako) with Taro Plants and Chrysanthemums, lacquer (mid-19th century) Japanese artist Shibata Zeshin (1807–1891) designed this tiered food box for celebratory meals like the New Year feast. The exterior features taro plants and chrysanthemum flowers rendered in various gold and silver lacquer techniques. Zeshin combined traditional Edo period methods with modern sensibilities to create a detailed composition inspired by nature. Loc. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Dim. 41.9 x 22.9 x 24.4 cm (16 1/2 x 9 x 9 5/8 in.)

Happy New Year everyone!

I know I haven't been super artistically active this year and I know a lot of the rest of yall have been in a similar boat.

I think I learned a lot this year about small things, like putting away dishes and finding out what kinds of soap I like and what kinds of clothing I feel comfortable in, and I know that's not impressive or a real marker of personal growth, but I know that I am still moving and changing and living, even if it's not impressive or concretely better, and I think that's worth celebrating too.

Here's the gorgeous Osechi spread that Bat put together for us including the meticulously folded but visibly unimpressive tinfoil that I did, and a teeny tiny Jubako for Dexter.

.・゜゜・Studio Ghibli Jubako Japanese Traditional Bento Box! You can find this beauty here・゜゜・．

Hi!

Apologies for being away, life's been busy in many good ways. It had been ages since I had occasion to make a bento, but I was conducting the interview after an archival filming for the Balanchine Foundation - a delight and an honor. I squared away my research and wrote out my questions the week prior. The Foundation wrote, apologizing for one small detail, they could not cater lunch as is their usual custom because of COVID complications getting deliveries to the building, etc., and they asked us to bring lunch.

So this seemed like a great opportunity to pack a bento lunch. But soon into the planning a basic law of bento kicked in. A bento is a collection of small portions of several dishes. You still have to make all the dishes. It's not that much harder for that reason to make a bento for several as for one. So I pulled out two of my jubako (multi-layered boxes for more than a single person) and shot the moon, as much as I could given the parameters of minimal planning, and the need for the food to transport well and hold up for a few hours. When I was in college I picked up "The Gold and Fizdale Cookbook" in the remainder section and treasured the long chapter they wrote on Cooking with Balanchine for what it said about his attitude towards food and creation. Cooking for the Balanchine Foundation is as close as I'm going to get!

The result - Left photo - Top left box from top left -

MWW Artwork of the Day (8/3/19) Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891) Stacked Food Box (Jubako) with Taro Plants and Chrysanthemums (c. 1850) Lacquered wood, gold & silver hiramaki-e, takamaki-e & colored togidashimaki-e, 41.9 x 22.9 x 24.4 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Mary Griggs Burke Collection)

This food box was designed for a celebratory meal, such as New Year’s feast. It comes with two lids so that the boxes can be easily separated into two sets. The decorative, modern design consists of taro plants (satoimo) and chrysanthemum flowers.

Les plus belles œuvres des artisans japonais.

Boîte à nourriture empilée (jūbako重箱) – décor Thirty-Six Immortal Poets (三十六歌仙)

Laque noire, incisée et décorée d'or - dimensions : 41.6 x 25.9 x 24.3 cm - période Edo Jidai 江戸時代 (1603 - 1867) ou Tokugawa jidai 徳川時代

okay, promise this is the last food/non-art pic for a bit okay. but anyway, here's our new-years osechi spread \o/

we went a little overboard because we inherited my grandmother's jubakos and dishware, and the more we learned about it the more emotional we got over it.

Les plus belles œuvres des artisans japonais.

Boîte à nourriture empilée (jūbako重箱) – décor Tagasode 誰袖

Bois laqué avec or, hiramaki-e 平蒔絵 en argent, application en feuille d'or et d'argent et incrustation de nacre sur nashiji 梨子地 - dimensions : 27.3 x 22.7 x 21 cm - période Edo Jidai 江戸時代 (1603 - 1867) ou Tokugawa jidai 徳川時代

Note : Le design de cette élégante boîte à nourriture, créée pour un repas de fête comme le Nouvel An, comprend des kimono drapés et des accessoires tels que des amulettes, des sacs de parfum et même un inrō印籠 / 印篭 (étui portable pour hommes). Cette composition est connue sous le nom de "tagasode 誰袖 / Whoses Sleeves en anglais". Le décor (Tagasode) désigne le propriétaire de des kimonos, et suggère qu'il est absent. Il a été utilisé dans les waka 和歌, y compris dans les poèmes du Kokin wakashū 古今和 歌集, vers 905. Cette boîte à nourriture fait également référence au Genji monogatari 源氏物語les dessins et les kimono sont ornés des scènes de l'histoire.