Nagamochi chest with maki-e design of the Aoi crest

Nagamochi is a large portable chest for storing kimonos. It was carried by bearers using a long pole which could be passed through the metal handles on both sides of the chest.
This lacquered chest is a piece of the bridal trousseau of Princess Sumi, the wife of the 12th lord of the Yanagawa domain. She was a daughter of the Tayasu-Tokugawa family —one of the three privileged branches of the Shogun family. The three hollyhock leaves in a circle represent the Tokugawa family’s crest.