Copper Lacquer

A highly important Japanese export lacquer cabinet with depiction of the Dutch East India Company tradepost Deshima and the annual Dutch delegation on its way to the Shogun in Edo Edo period, circa 1660-1680 H. 88 x W. 100.5 x D. 54 cm This cabinet includes a later European japanned stand, but also a modern powder-coated steel frame. The latter can be designed and added to your specific needs. The sides and front of the rectangular two-door cabinet are embellished in gold and silver hiramaki-e and takamaki-e on a black roiro lacquer ground with a continuous design. The two doors depict a long procession of numerous figures travelling on foot and horseback along buildings and a pagoda into a mountainous landscape. This is the annual court journey, Hofreis, of the Dutch from Nagasaki to the Shogun’s court in Edo. Three horseback riders are dressed as Dutch merchants and a fourth figure, probably het Opperhoofd, is seen inside a palanquin, norimon. Just about to cross the bridge, two men are carrying a cabinet like the present one. Many Japanese figures on either side of the procession are engaged in various activities; some play musical instruments on board of small boats, others are fishing; figures inside buildings are depicted playing go, and farmers are tending to their rice paddocks. The upper part of the right door shows a large mansion, probably the local daimyo’s castle, with men kneeling before a man in the central courtyard. The court journey fits in with the foreign policy of the shogunate which accorded a role to the VOC alongside China, Korea, and the Ryukyu Islands who also had to pay tribute. However, the VOC employees were traders, having low status in Japan’s social hierarchy, and they were received with less deference than were the state embassies from Korea and the Ryukyu Islands. Nevertheless, the contacts with the Dutch were a welcome source of information to the Shogun about Europe and European science and technology. The left side of the cabinet depicts, in mirror image, a rare view of the artificial fan-shaped Deshima Island, the trading post for the Dutch in Japan. The island, where the Dutch flag flies, is surrounded by small Japanese boats and an anchored three-masted fluyt (cargo ship), flying Dutch flags, with on the stern the VOC monogram. On the bottom right a busy street of Nagasaki is shown, bordered by shops and leading up to the stone bridge. On the island the trees are beautifully painted, two cows can be seen, and the flagpole, all in very fine detail. Dutchmen and enslaved Malay are visible outside the buildings and two Japanese figures, probably guards, sit in a small hut in the centre. A maximum of fifteen to twenty Dutchmen lived on the island at any time and soldiers or women were not allowed. Restrictions on Deshima were tight, and the merchants were only allowed to leave the island by special permission. The Opperhoofd had to be replaced every year, and each new Opperhoofd had to make a court journey to pay tribute, present gifts, and to obtain permission to Margaret Barclay eep on trading. In the distance, many birds fly above the hills and a four-story pagoda can be seen. The right side of the cabinet is painted with other horse riders and their retinue journeying through mountains. The pair of doors to the front open to reveal ten rectangular drawers. The drawers are decorated with scenes of birds in flight and landscapes with trees and plants. The reverse of the left door with two thatched buildings, one with a ladder, underneath a camelia tree with large blooms; the right door with a three-story pagoda nestled among trees and both doors with a flying phoenix, ho-oo bird. The cabinet, with elaborately engraved gilt copper mounts, hinges, lock plates and brass handles, is raised on an 18th-century English japanned wood stand. A pair of large cabinets...

A fine a rare Japanese box masterly woven in copper, the box with lid and handles dates to 19th century Meiji Period, and it imitates the Ikebana bamboo basketry style Height 17...

Late Momoyama period, late 16th century The coffer is decorated in black lacquer, urushi, on cedar wood, decorated with gold dust and silver, maki-e, and nashiji, mother-of-pearl, r...

This exquisite matching pair of antique Chinese export blue and white cloisonné covered general jars is a fine example of the intricate artistry and craftsmanship of traditional Chin...

An elegant and refined Japanese lacquer koro, incense burner, in the form of a chaire, tea caddy, Edo Perio, mid 19th century, Japan. The barrel shaped koro formed as a traditional ...

Pair of magnificent hibachi (fire bowls) shaped like chrysanthemum flowers (kiku) and finished with high quality ‘bordeaux red’ lacquer. Each is carved from a solid piece of wood with fine elegant lobes representing the petals. The interior fitted with a copper lining, for the coals, with a nice patina. A pair of hibachi in this colour and with this kind of quality of Material is rare to find! In Japan chrysanthemums are believed to represent happiness, longevity, rejuvenation and nobility. Including original wooden tomobako (storage box). In Western culture these bowls are often used as decorative flower pots...

A good Japanese carved cinnabar three case inro with mixed metal ojime, Meiji period, late 19th century, Japan. The three case inro of standard form, comprised of three container se...

An exceptionally fine and unusual Japanese lacquer writing implements box, suzuribako, in the form of a zither, koto, Edo Period, 18th century, Japan. With a modern wood storage box,...

A Japanese export Nagasaki lacquer tobacco box with the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte Edo-period, circa 1810 The box in black lacquer on copper, ...

A simple and elegant Japanese lacquer hibachi stand with imperial chrysanthemum mon and copper liner, now modified as an usubata, late Meiji Period, ci...

With monumental scale and beautiful, hand-carved details, this remarkable red lacquer hibachi is a true work of art. Designed to hold glowing embers, hibachi vessels such as this were used for cooking or as a source of heat in Japanese homes. Placed under a low wood kotatsu table...

A Japanese lacquered box with lid in the shape of a miniature Hasami-Bako (traveling chest) circa late 18 to early 19th century of the Edo period. The black box is decorated with fin...

A set of four extremely rare and important pictorial-style Japanese export lacquer bottles Edo-period, circa 1650-1680 H. 15.5 x W. 6.9 x B. 7.6 cm (each) The bottles with red cop...

Designed to hold glowing embers, hibachi vessels were used for cooking or as a source of heat in Japanese homes. Placed under a low wood kotatsu table wi...

Rare museum-worthy Japanese lacquered wooden festival support for a flag. In feudal Japan this kind of supports sat on the back of a horse or ox during pr...

Persimmon Box Black Lacquer Hand Repousse Copper Base Limited Edition Lacquer is a laborious and time-consuming process. After it is tapped from the trees, lacquer needs to b...

Persimmon box Black lacquer Hand repousse Copper base Limited Edition Lacquer is a laborious and time-consuming process. After it is tapped from the trees, lacquer needs to b...

Early 17th century incense burner( Koro) in basket weave nashiji lacquer pattern with chrysanthemum mons (the national symbol of Japan). Copper grill with detailed waves pattern. Foo...

An important Japanese lacquer Maki-É Panel Depicting St. Petersburg on the River Neva, with the winter palace on the left and the academy of science on the right, 18th century. Nagasaki, 1780-1800 In black lacquer on copper, the front decorated in maki-é, the back inscribed, Vue Perspective des Bords de la Neva en descendant la Rivière entre le Palais d'hyver de sa Majesté Impériale et les batiments de l'Académie des Sciences à St Petersburg in gold and inlaid with flowers in mother of pearl. Measures: H 23 x W 39 cm The present plaque is identical to one in the Museum of Japanese History in Sakura and another one in the Museum of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg. (see: Oliver Impey & Christiaan Jörg, Japanese Export Lacquer, 1580-1850, p. 52-53) This last one was given to Catherine the Great in 1794 by the Swedish medical doctor Johan Arnold Stutzer who had served with the VOC in Deshima in 1787-1788. Apparently, such plaques were not unique and may have been made in several copies. This was certainly the case with the smaller lacquer oval portrait medallions (see for instance Uit Verre Streken, June 2017, no. 62) The scene of St. Petersburg was copied from an optical print taken by Stutzer to Japan, as shown by Yasumasa Oka of the Kobe City Museum. Stutzer in his diary writes: “I am the first to bring them (i.e. the Japanese) original pictures such as a view of St Petersburg and of Rudolf XV on horseback and try to have them made (in lacquer). According to the Japanese, it is the first time that these two pictures will be copied. Other products that I also ordered, for example, pictures of sea battles, are also appreciated as absolute masterpieces”. For two lacquered plaques depicting the sea battle of Dogger Bank in 1781 between the Dutch and the English navies, see Uit Verre Streken, December 2013, nr. 39 and March 2015, nr 56. Johan Strutzer at the same time also presented six beautiful Japanese glass telescopes to Catherine the Great of Russia, like the two Japanese glass telescopes illustrated in Uit Verre Streken, March 2015, item 59 and 60 and the one in the Kobe City Museum (illustrated in: Japan Envisions the West, 16th-19th Century Japanese Art...

Japanese Lacquer Hibachi (Brazier), Meiji period (1868 - 1912) Box- shaped Japanese hibachi with mother of pearl inlay, handles on two sides, and a cop...

Antique copper finish on copper band Hand repousse´ Black lacquer Contemporary Limited Edition Chinese lacquer is a highly regarded art form an...

A highly unusual Japanese crackle glazed koro (incense burner or censer), lacquered and inlaid with mother-of-pearl embellishment, signed Gyokusen, Ed...

This very beautifully lacquered box is from the Meiji period in Japan. Made between 1864 and the end of the 19th century this small two tied box would have bee...