A Rare Gold and Black Maki-e Lacquer Box Decorated with Inrō

Japan, Early Edo Period, 17th Century

This exceptional seventeenth century lacquer box is distinguished by a particuarly inventive decorative schemes of the early Edo period. Rather than depicting a conventional landscape or literary narrative, the cover is arranged as an assemblage of sumptuous inrō, their silk cords intertwined across a richly powdered gold nashiji ground. The inrō are rendered in a variety of lacquer techniques, each displaying its own distinctive decoration, transforming these luxurious personal accessories into the principal artistic motif.

The illusionistic composition creates the impression that the treasured cases have been casually placed upon the surface, demonstrating the lacquerer’s extraordinary ability to combine pictorial design with sophisticated trompe l’oeil.

The decoration is executed in finely varied gold and silver maki-e, employing raised takamaki-e, polished togidashi, dense nashiji, and subtle touches of coloured lacquer to distinguish the individual inrō and their silk cords. Each miniature case is treated as a work of art in its own right, decorated with differing landscapes and ornamental designs while contributing to a perfectly balanced overall composition. The restrained palette allows the technical brilliance of the lacquerwork to take centre stage.

The interior continues this celebration of cultivated taste. The removable tray is decorated with a folding screen painted with a moonlit landscape, set beside a brilliant vermilion torii, together with elegant writing implements and objects associated with the literary arts. These motifs evoke poetry, scholarship and quiet contemplation, reflecting the refined pursuits of the educated elite during the Edo period.

The choice of inrō as the principal decorative subject is particularly significant. By the seventeenth century, inrō had become among the most admired expressions of Japanese lacquer craftsmanship, prized not only for their practical function but also as symbols of taste, wealth and artistic sophistication. Their depiction upon another lacquer object creates a subtle dialogue between two of the finest forms of Japanese decorative art, celebrating both the beauty of the objects themselves and the extraordinary technical mastery required to produce them.

The result is a composition of remarkable originality, refinement and elegance, characteristic of the finest lacquer produced during the early Edo period.