The Hatsune (First Warbler) Trousseau

Princess Chiyo (1637-1699), the eldest daughter of the 3rd Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu, received this bridal trousseau in 1639, when she married Mitsumoto, the 2nd lord of the Owari clan. The motif on the matching ensemble comes from a poem in "The First Warbler," chapter 23 of The Tale of Genji, which reads: "The old one's gaze rests long on the seedling pine, waiting to hear the song of the first warbler, in a village where it does not sing." The poetic design is elegantly embedded in the lacquered furnishings with scattered letters and pictorial motifs. Designated a National Treasure, the Hatsune Trousseau represents the finest example of the decorative lacquer technique of maki-e (sprinkled metal decoration) in Japan as well as the power of the Tokugawa shogunate.