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Chest
Unknown - Enlarge image
Chest
- Place of origin:
Guangzhou, China (made)
- Date:
ca. 1730-1770 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Lacquered wood
- Museum number:
FE.38:1 to 4-1981
- Gallery location:
China, room 47f, case 7
The pedestal forms part of this low chest with double doors. The piece is decorated in a technique known as maki-e ('sprinkled pictures'). This involves dusting fine gold powder over an outline previously painted in wet lacquer. Japanese decorators first developed the technique, which then spread to China. By 1700 it was a speciality of Canton, where Chinese decorators supplied not only the seasonal export trade but also the much larger home market.



