Box, lid and tray, wood covered in black lacquer inlaid with shell, gold foil and silver foil, Chinese women in a garden on the lid, with flowers, plants and insects round the sides, all surrounded by a continuous geometric diaper pattern, Japan, dated 1877

Box with lid and tray, the box of square shape but with an ornate outline, wood covered in black lacquer inlaid with shell, gold foil and silver foil, with Chinese women in a garden within an ornate frame on top of the lid, and a similar frame on each of the four sides surrounding flowers, plants and insects, all the intervening area being filled with geometric diaper patterns. The black lacquer tray is of the same shape as the outline of the box and the base bears the inscription Experiment No. 1, Kinkodo lacquer department, Tokyo, Japan, tenth year of Meiji.

Purchased from Mirza Yusuf Khan (7 Coptic Street, WC), accessioned in 1901. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.

At first glance, this box appears more Chinese than Japanese. An inscription on the base, however, clearly states that it is of Japanese manufacture. It reads "Experiment No.1, Kinkodo lacquer department, Tokyo, Japan, tenth year of Meiji (1877)." Industrial centres of experimentation were set up around Tokyo with the aim of promoting and improving technical aspects of the craft in the Meiji period (1868-1912).

491-1901