box;
lid
- Museum number
- 1974,0226.81.a-e
- Description
-
Octagonal tiered container. Birds on camellia branches. Made of red and gold lacquer; outlining of painted decorations with gold foil and use of shallow patches of nashiji.
- Production date
- 17thC
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 27.30 centimetres
-
Height: 28.20 centimetres (with lid)
- Curator's comments
-
Smith et al 1990
The outlining of the painted decorations with gold foil and the use of shallow patches of 'nashiji' are techniques thought to have been introduced to Ryukyu from China in 1663. The mainland Japanese had little experience of painting a wide range of colours over lacquer in this way. The formal decoration of birds and butterflies among camellias is very Chinese, but its freshness owes much to mature Ryukyu style.
-
Farrer 2001
The subject matter; composition, use of colour and painting style of the decoration of this piece show the strong continental influence in these southernmost Japanese islands, now known as Okinawa, which are separated from Fuzhou in Fujian province by only a narrow stretch of the East China Sea. The evergreen 'Camellia japonica', known in Japanese as 'tsubaki', grows wild in forests in the southern mountains of Japan and charcoal from camellia wood is used in lacquer making. Its blooms are a frequent motif and were much admired; oil from its seeds had practical uses in cooking and cosmetics. The first main shipment of 'tsubaki' to Europe was in 1792 through the East India Company There are hundreds of cultivars - singles, doubles, striped and blotched - as well as the autumn-flowering 'sazanka' camellia.
-
According to Murose Kazumi, 18thC. [RMAB, 9/6/2009]
- Location
- On display (G93/dc6/sA)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2006 Oct - 2015 Apr, BM Japanese Galleries, 'Japan from prehistory to the present'
- Acquisition date
- 1974
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1974,0226.81.a-e
