octagonal box with nested dishes, unknown maker from Japan

Artwork Overview

octagonal box with nested dishes
octagonal box with nested dishes
octagonal box with nested dishes
Edo period (1600–1868)
octagonal box with nested dishes , Edo period (1600–1868)
Where object was made: Japan
Material/technique: lacquer; gold
Dimensions:
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 12.7 x 61 cm
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 5 x 24 1/2 in
Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial
Accession number: 1928.1934.a-k
Not on display
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Images

Label texts

Nature/Natural
A bucolic image of thatched huts nestled amongst craggy rocks and flowering trees adorns the lid of this lacquered box. While the scene recalls a Chinese landscape painting, the combination of a black lacquer background with applied gold decoration is distinctively Japanese. The eight-sided star shape and its impressive scale furthermore indicate that this box was made to satiate European demand for “oriental art.” Trends like Chinoiserie and Japanning in the 18th and 19th centuries established ornate notions of “Eastern art” more in keeping with European tastes than anything in Asia. Nested inside is a single, circular plate embellished with frolicking phoenixes ringed by eight trapezoidal dishes.
A bucolic image of thatched huts nestled amongst craggy rocks and flowering trees adorns the lid of this lacquered box. While the scene recalls a Chinese landscape painting, the combination of a black lacquer background with applied gold decoration is distinctively Japanese. The eight-sided star shape and its impressive scale furthermore indicate that this box was made to satiate European demand for “oriental art.” Trends like Chinoiserie and Japanning in the 18th and 19th centuries established ornate notions of “Eastern art” more in keeping with European tastes than anything in Asia. Nested inside is a single, circular plate embellished with frolicking phoenixes ringed by eight trapezoidal dishes.
Exhibition Label: "Nature/Natural," Feb-2011, Kris Ercums A bucolic image of thatched huts nestled amongst craggy rocks and flowering trees adorns the lid of this lacquered box. While the scene recalls a Chinese landscape painting, the combination of a black lacquer background with applied gold decoration is distinctively Japanese. The eight-sided star shape and its impressive scale furthermore indicate that this box was made to satiate European demand for “oriental art.” Trends like Chinoiserie and Japanning in the 18th and 19th centuries established ornate notions of “Eastern art” more in keeping with European tastes than anything in Asia. Nested inside is a single, circular plate embellished with frolicking phoenixes ringed by eight trapezoidal dishes.

Exhibitions

Nature/Natural
Kris Ercums, curator
2011–2014

Citations

Broun, Elizabeth. Handbook of the Collection: Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art. Lawrence, Kansas: Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, 1978.