An unusual Japanese lacquered melon box

日本黑漆描金瓜形盒

Edo period (1615 to 1868), 1680-1730

This refined and unusual ribbed melon-form lacquer box exemplifies the pictorial style of high Edo-period lacquer, in which functional objects were conceived as miniature painted worlds. Elegantly modelled as a naturalistic melon with gently fluted sides, the box’s decorations are set against an inky backdrop made using the roiro (高光黑漆, a traditional Japanese, high-gloss black lacquer) technique. Developed during the Edo era, roiro is considered to be one of the highest grades of Japanese lacquering and involves repeated polishing with charcoal and dozuri (abrasives such as pulverised deer horn) using oil and cloth to great a fine, dark gloss on an object’s surface.

Within a series of overlapping ornate frames, finely rendered landscape scenes are executed nashiji(梨 地, pear-skin), takamaki-e and hiramaki-e decorations (raised and flat maki-e, 高 蒔 絵 and 平蒔 絵). Maki-e is the most iconic and technically sophisticated Japanese lacquer technique. Designs are painted in wet urushi and sprinkled with gold or silver powder, then sealed and polished to create luminous imagery. Perfected during the Heian period (794–1185), maki-e became the pinnacle of courtly lacquer and later flourished in the Edo period for writing boxes such as this fine example. Maki-e is a painstaking process requiring phenomenal craftsmanship that can take months or even years to complete. Each part must be done sequentially and cured before subsequent steps can be executed, a process that needs excellent foresight and patience. The interior is finished in nashiji , a design made by embedding fine gold flakes beneath translucent lacquer to produce a soft, evenly speckled glow. The box retains its gilt-metal lock and hinged cover.

Significance

Boxes of this pictorial type occupy a distinguished place within Japanese lacquer production, blurring the boundary between utilitarian object and fine art. Comparable melon- and chrysanthemum-shaped examples are preserved in major museum collections, underscoring the present work’s place within the sophisticated export and domestic luxury lacquer traditions of the Edo period. 

This elegant melon box is a compelling example of the technical virtuosity and poetic decorative sensibility that define the golden age of Japanese lacquer.