A Japanese export lacquer box with depiction of the Grand Hotel, Yokohama

A Japanese Nagasaki export lacquer box with mother-of-pearl depiction of the Amsterdam ‘Trippenhuis’ Edo-period, circa 1830 H. 12.5 x W. 24 x D. 15 cm ? The house depicted on t...

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 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...

An important Japanese lacquer box with a view of The 'Nieuwe Stadsherberg Van Amsterdam Nagasaki, Edo-period, 1830-1840 The black lacquered wood box, decorated in gold and inla...

A fine Japanese export red lacquer box with Masonic symbols Kyoto/Nagasaki, 1800-1820 Red lacquer decorated with scattered flowers and flying birds with long tails in gold, wit...

A pair of fine Japanese export lacquered cutlery boxes Kyoto or Nagasaki, late 18th century H. 33.5 x W. 24 x D. 21 cm The bow-fronted boxes with sloping lids flat at the top are made of hinoki wood (Cypress), coated with Japanese paper and decorated in lacquer with scattered gold birds and flowers on a nashiji background. The Japanese mounts are made of copper and both boxes still have internal partitions to keep the cutlery upright. The form of these boxes is similar to a pictorial-style knife box in the collection of the Groninger Museum (inv. 1989- 347), dated between 1730 and 1780, but the style of the decoration is more like that on a knife box in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem (inv. E62271), which was brought to Salem by James Devereux, Captain of the Franklin, in 1799. Provenance: Henriette Jeane Christine van Neukirchen, called Nyvenheim (1807- 1849) and Nicolaas Johan Steengracht van Oostcapelle (1806-1866), thence by descent to the last owners, Ludolphine Emilie baronesse Schimmelpenninck van der Oye (1944) married in 1969 to Roland Daniel van Haersma Buma (1944), the last residents of castle Duivenvoorden near Voorschoten and the great-great-granddaughter of Nicolaas Johan Steengracht van Oostcapelle. There is no evidence that Nicolaas Johan himself, or any of his or his wife’s ancestors had ever been in Japan. However, Nicolaas’ grandfather (Nicolaas Steengracht, 1754-1840) was a director of both the VOC and WIC (West Indies Company...

Rare pair of Japanese Nagasaki Export lacquered wood knife boxes with mother-of-pearl inlay of flowers and birds, now converted to letter boxes. The boxes were converted to letter b...

Japanese lacquer inro depicting a Daikokuten with his hammer watching children, next to a Matsu plant. Excellent quality decoration with relief details, shine and original patina. ...

This exquisite Meiji-period lacquer document box known as a ryoshibako showcases the meticulous artistry of maki-e, a technique of raised lacquer decoration. Adorned with gold and vi...

A Japanese red burgundy, gold and black lacquer box with round corners and silk cloth interior lining, circa early-20th century, 1920s, Japan. Box was desi...

Japanese lacquer box with mandarin ducks motif on cover. One lacquer tray and one small lacquer plank inside the box.

Pretty little Japanese lacquered box. On a golden metal medal inside we can read the royal motto of the Netherlands, adorned with a lion: "Je maintiendrai...