As in earlier Namban lacquer furniture, the decoration of thischest consists of large panels framed by fine borders running alongthe edges, with a frieze of Namban tendrils (karakusa). This largedome-shaped chest of black lacquered wood (urushi) is decoratedin gold (maki-e) with mother-of-pearl inlay (raden).On the front, amidst various types of plants, a prominentlyrendered hen and cockerel can be seen which, given their overallmorphology, especially the long tail feathers trailing along theground, may be identified as ohiki, an ornamental bantam breed(Gallus gallus domesticus) originating from Shikoku Island, KochiPrefecture.The extraordinary domed lid presents another pair, thistime of Buddhist lions, mythical animals of Chinese origin, in acomposition that recalls the famous pair of Chinese Lions (Karajishi)on a folding screen of about 1590 by the master Kano Eitoku (1543–1590), in the Japanese Imperial Collection (inv. SZK002944)and designated a National Treasure.1 Pairs of Buddhist lions, maleand female as on this chest, known in Japan as komainu (literally‘Korean dog’), carved in stone and referred to as shishi in Chinese,served as guardians at the entrances to temples, protecting thesacred precinct from malign influences, both spiritual and human.The sides are adorned with flowering branches and leaves,while the inner face of the domed lid bears a stylised landscapewith a meandering stream and vegetation, in contrast to the restof the interior, which is entirely finished in black lacquer.Its gilt-copper fittings (kazarikanagu), finely chased withfloral motifs, include two lock plates (aimeita) with their latches,brackets for the corners, hinges at the back, and side handles.The refined gold decoration on this chest, known as maki-e(literally ‘sprinkled picture’), was common in Japan during the Momoyama period (1568–1600) and in the early decades of thesubsequent Edo period.2 It is within this period and in a context ofmutual acculturation that a special export lacquer emerges, combiningmother-of-pearl inlay with a type of decoration known ashiramaki-e, termed Namban maki-e or Namban shitsugei. Namban,or namban-jin (literally ‘Southern barbarian’), is a Japanese termderived from Chinese, referring to the Portuguese and Spanishmerchants, missionaries and seamen who reached Japan in thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries.Namban also became synonymous with the lacquerware andother products made in Japan either for the domestic market orfor export, which reflected Western taste by reproducing Europeanprototypes such as this chest. Lacquer objects in Namban style,produced exclusively for export, combine Japanese techniques,materials and decorative motifs with European shapes and styles; among the most common are small caskets with domed lids andlarger chests, a typology introduced into Japan by the Portugueseand there emulated.3 The decoration of such chests is usuallyarranged in panels separated by broad geometric borders, while single-panel examples, such as the present piece, are considerably rarer.Comparable examples of this specific type are preservedat Schloss Fasanerie, Fulda (inv. DAS M91), and at the NaprstekMuseum (Národni Muzeum), Prague (inv. 20611), where there is achest (37.0 × 70.2 × 46.5 cm) very close to the present example; and,from the Barros e Sá bequest, a smaller chest (29.0 × 43.0 × 25.0 cm)with silver fittings in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon(inv. 98 Cx).4 Examples of this size, with double lock and latch, areextraordinarily rare.
HMC