This striking, stylised, design of golden rice stalks arching across a rich red ground has a bold, energetic, quality entirely in keeping with the artistic mood of its period.  For the rhythmic scattering of rice heads Gyokushu has used a range of coloured gold powders, while for the stems he has polished through the gold to reveal the red ground, to give a solidity to the strong yet delicate plant. 

The floriate legs, ‘bound’ in silver lacquer representative of traditional metal binding, are decorated with designs of sparrows, suzume. In Japanese folklore the sparrow exemplifies the virtue of repaying one’s obligations and its association with rice heads has a long history. It could be speculated that the underlying mood of this design would prompt the user of the writing desk to ensure sincere and respectful communication.

Gyokushu was a member of one of Kyoto’s leading artistic families – the Domoto – having married the sister of the lacquer artist, Domoto Gosaburo (Shikken),1889 -1964, himself the brother of leading nihonga artist, Domoto Insho, 1891-1975. In 1919, he became a member of Nihon Shikkōkai (the Japan Lacquer Society). Throughout his career Gyokushu’s work regularly received awards in public exhibition, and were selected for the Shōkō-ten (the Ministry of Commerce's Craft Exhibition) multiple times. In 1930, he won the Kyoto Kōgei Bijutsu shō (the Kyoto Kogei Art Award).