Sake cup with maki-e design of Oki-no-ishi

An offshore view is depicted on the vermillion lacquered flat cup, by using various techniques of maki-e (lacquer decoration) —— The splashes are expressed by silver metal powder, crests of waves are covered with white mitsuda (oil coat), shells are made by mother-of-pearl inlay, and rocks are created with kirikane (cutting foil). A Chinese character ‘乃’ appears on the rock, which is a design called ‘ashi-de’ mixed characters as pictorial elements with motifs inside.
The offshore view continues from the interior to the exterior surface of the cup with a poem titled ‘Oki-no-ishi (Offshore Rocks)’. The poem is adopted from the alternative version of ‘Hyakuninisshu (One hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets)’. The original was composed by Nijoin Sanuki as "My sleeves have not a moment to dry, just like the reefs lying offshore that cannot be seen even at low tide, although no one knows about it". But the first words in the alternative version are changed from “my sleeves” into “my love”.

In the Tachibana family, another cup set with the identical name ‘Oki-no-ishi’ as this cup has been passed down as an heirloom. They are huge cups with designs depicting scenes of the original poem by Nijoin Sanuki.
Many wine cups with motifs taken from waka (traditional Japanese poetry) were produced in Kyoto; and the thick wooden lacquer ware like this example is one of the characteristics of Kyo-shikki (lacquerware produced in Kyoto). From these, it is considered that the Tachibana family ordered this cup in Kyoto for the purpose of regular use by miniaturizing the huge original cup set.