Menuki Pair Depicting Ox-Cart and Peony – MP-014

Type: MP (Menuki Pair)

This is a matched antique menuki pair depicting an ox-cart wheel set behind a bouquet of flowers and buds, executed in shakudō with gilt highlights. The composition centers on a deeply carved wheel motif with spokes radiating from a conical hub, flanked by fully opened flowers with layered petals and additional unopened buds. The petals and buds retain a warm gilt surface that has mellowed with age, while the foliage and wheel are rendered in dark shakudō to create contrast. The carving is relatively crisp with good depth, especially in the petals and the circular recesses of the wheel, and the forms are cleanly mirrored for tsuka mounting. The reverse of each menuki shows a neatly hollowed back with a single integral post for mounting; the posts are intact and appear original. 

Motifs combining floral arrangements with ox-cart wheels (known in classical Japanese arts as gosho-kuruma imagery) were widely used in Edo-period decorative objects, evoking Heian court culture and seasonal elegance. The inclusion of peonies in such arrangements symbolizes longevity and refinement, making the motif especially suitable for civilian koshirae with a courtly aesthetic.