Urushi lacquer box inlaid with mother-of-pearl - Japan 17th century

Small wooden cabinet covered with black (roiro) lacquer (urushi). Decorated with plants and a lake landscape in gold powder (maki-e) with mother-of-pearl(aogai) details embedded in lacquer. On the top we can see Mount Fuji. Japanese work from the wery beginning of the 17th century 1600 to 1640 made for the European market. Early Edo period. A few years ago these cabinets were sometimes attributed to the Momoyama period which ended in 1615, the date of the battle of Osaka, today the period is shortened by 12 years and ends in 1603. Most of the lacquers from this period preserved in museums is therefore renowned. This cabinet has not undergone any European restoration intervention which has therefore not mutilated it. The good quality of the urushi, applied thickly, allowed almost all of the mother-of-pearl to be retained. Only a few rocks are missing on the top, which does not incriminate the urushi which is always very "bordering" on the edges, but rather the solidity of the mother-of-pearl which has broken over the centuries. The general condition is satisfactory, the lacquer is worn, cracked, split as a 400-year-old lacquer can be. The frames are made of copper alloys gilded with mercury, the gilding is worn but traces of it remain in the least accessible places. The hinges are decorated with stylized flowers on a Nanako (poison scales) background. The keyholes represent 2 butterflies gathering on the imperial "Mon" (coat of arms), the chrysanthemum flower. The handles are bronze. This cabinet was originally rectangular, without this trapezoidal base in varnished wood. Which is the case for practically all the firms of this period. We think that these bases were added at a later time to respond to a fashion phenomenon.

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