Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Japanese
Lip-colour case (mid 19th century)
metal, cotton (woodblock printed, sarasa)
5.1 × 3.3 × 1.0 cm (box) 5.2 × 3.6 × 0.8 cm (case) 4.0 × 0.6 × 0.3 cm (spoon)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Noriaki Kaneko, 2025
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Where possible, the image must be reproduced in full (no cropping or over-printing). If you wish to use a detail of the work, a full reproduction of the work must also be reproduced elsewhere in the publication.
While the NGV believes this work to be in the Public Domain, it is the responsibility of the publisher to ensure that no further permissions are required for use.
For a complete list of terms and condition of use see the National Gallery of Victoria’s copyright policy.
Lip-colour case
(mid 19th century)
Medium
metal, cotton (woodblock printed, sarasa)
Measurements
5.1 × 3.3 × 1.0 cm (box) 5.2 × 3.6 × 0.8 cm (case) 4.0 × 0.6 × 0.3 cm (spoon)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Noriaki Kaneko, 2025
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Before the invention of lip colour in lipstick format at the end of the nineteenth century, and the subsequent introduction of lipstick to Japan in the early twentieth century, women applied coloured oil paste to their lips using a small brush or spatula like-spoon. Decorative reusable small lip-colour boxes, itabeni, were prized personal possessions that could be taken by their owners to lip-oil shops to be filled with colours on request. This box features an engraved design of flowers and has a fabric satchel with block printing known as sarasa.