The exquisite geometric patterns are eye-catching.
“Hakone Crafts with Bellows” displayed in an antique store (“Jiko”) in the northwestern part of NISHIOGI.
This is a marquetry box created in Hakone, where there is a rich variety of tree species with different colors, and made by gathering pieces of wood together to create a pattern; it is a work of art in the early 1930s and used to store small items by sliding the bellows. It is said that there are about 60 different patterns such as “Ichimatsu” or checked patterns.
The store manager commented, “As Hakone developed as a tourist destination, it seems that craftspeople who had advanced techniques for creating karakuri boxes (secret boxes) gathered there, and such craft works began to be made as souvenirs with various ideas.”
寄木細工の美
精緻な幾何学模様が目を引きます。
西荻北西地区の骨董店(「慈光」)に展示されている、「蛇腹の箱根細工」。樹種の豊富な箱根で、違う色の木を寄せ集めて模様を作り出す寄木細工の箱で、昭和初期の作品です。蛇腹をスライドして小物を入れます。模様は「市松」など60種類ほどあると言われます。
店長の言「箱根が観光地として発展する中で、からくり箱（秘密箱）など高度の技術を駆使する職人も集まり、様々なアイデアを凝らしたお土産品としてこうした工芸品が作られるようになったようです。」
