Box inscriptions (sangseo)

In Japan, writing a title on the box that holds a painting, calligraphy, or ceramic, then signing and sealing it, is called hakogaki; a connoisseur's note guaranteeing that the work is genuine counts too. Japanese dictionaries cite its earliest known use in the diary Gonki, in the year 1000. The writing is usually by the maker, a pupil, or someone who knew the maker well, and it carries weight in judging authenticity; with old works, the box inscriptions themselves are often studied. Today the relationship between maker and owner, or where the work came from, may also be written inside the lid; there is no fixed form. In Korea, Jeon Hyeong-pil (Kansong) had craftsmen make a paulownia box to the size of each work, and the boxes carry appraisals and histories by connoisseurs such as Oh Se-chang. In Korean this writing is called sangseo.

Find a box shown beside its work and read what it says: the maker, the title, or who looked at the work and what they said.

If a work had no box, how would you know where it came from?

• Ink painting 수묵→Many of the Kansong boxes hold ink paintings and calligraphy.