花丸七宝繋蒔絵螺鈿宝箱|Portable Nanban Box

Unknown

late 16th century · Lacquered wood with gold, silver hiramaki-e, and mother-of-pearl inlay; silver fittings · Asian Art

In the second half of the sixteenth century, Japanese lacquer made for Western markets was known as nanban (Southern Barbarian), a reference to the epithet given to foreigners from Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. Many of these export lacquers were made in Kyoto. The maki-e (“sprinkled picture”) and rich mother-of-pearl decoration on this box consists of continuous interlinked circles (shippō) with stylized flowers in the intersections and five flower roundels on the lid.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 16th century

Medium

Lacquered wood with gold, silver hiramaki-e, and mother-of-pearl inlay; silver fittings

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015