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The Van Diemen Box
Unknown - Enlarge image
The Van Diemen Box
- Object:
Document box
- Place of origin:
Japan (made)
- Date:
1636-1639 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Wood, covered in black lacquer, with gold, silver and red hiramaki-e and takamaki-e lacquer and gold and silver foil
- Credit Line:
Given by the children of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bt
- Museum number:
W.49:1 to 3-1916
- Gallery location:
Japan, room 45, case 3
Object Type
Although Japanese export lacquerware was usually shaped to meet western tastes, this piece takes the form of a Japanese document box with a tray. It belongs to a small group of extremely high quality export lacquerwork produced between about 1630 and 1640. As in the case of this box, these were typically decorated using expensive and elaborate lacquer techniques with scenes from Japanese classical literature.
Places
High quality export lacquerware was made to special order in Kyoto, Japan's former imperial capital. It was then transported to Deshima, a small island in Nagasaki harbour, for shipment abroad by Dutch merchants. During the late 17th century merchants of the Dutch East India Company were the only Europeans permitted to conduct trade in Japan.
People
The inside of the lid of this box is inscribed with the name of Maria van Diemen, wife of Anton van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1636 to 1645. The famous author, designer and collector William Beckford (1760-1844) also owned a very similar box known as the Buys box. Beckford's box was inscribed with the name of Pieternellae Buys, married to Philips Lucasz in 1634. Lucasz served as second-in-command to Anton van Diemen in Batavia from 1635 to 1639. This combination of biographical details allows the two boxes to be dated to between 1636 and 1639. These are among the very few export lacquer objects known to have any direct connection with women.
