late 19th-early 20th century
H. 6.8 x W. 11.8 x D. 8.5 cm (2 11/16 x 4 5/8 x 3 3/8 in.)
[William Lipton Ltd., New York, (2001)] sold; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2001.
Lacquer on wood with decoration in gold, silver, and sabi urushi (thick lacquer paste) utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design), and nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground) techniques, with applied kirigane (cut gold and silver) and with shibuchi (copper-silver alloy), brass, silver, and coral inlays; stone, metal, and enamel fittings
18th centuryJapaneseInlaid celadon ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze over incised decoration inlaid in white slip; the inner rim banded with metal
12th centuryKoreanEnameled blue-and-white ware, "wucai" type: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze polychrome enamels; with underglaze cobalt blue mark reading "Da Ming Wanli nian zhi" within a double-square set within a "ruyi" cloud-scroll border on the base
16th-17th centuryChineseYue ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze over incised decoration. From the Yue kilns at Shanglinhu, Zhejiang province.
10th centuryChineseQingbai ware: molded porcelain with pale sky-blue glaze
13th centuryChineseLacquer on wood with Kōdaiji-style decoration in gold utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design), and nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground) techniques, and with applied kirigane (cut silver)
16th-17th centuryJapaneseMonochrome lead-glazed ware: molded white earthenware with lead-fluxed emerald-green glaze on the exterior and lead-fluxed clear glaze mottled with green on the interior. Probably from kilns at Luoyang or Gongxian, Henan province.
9th-10th centuryChineseIncised celadon ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze over incised decoration
11th centuryKoreanLacquered Papier-mâché
19th centuryKoreanLacquer on wood
JapaneseLacquer on wood with decoration in gold and sabi urushi (thick lacquer paste) utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design) and takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design) techniques and with textured sheet-lead and raden (mother-of-pearl) inlays
17th-18th centuryJapanese