9th century
Small circular box and cover with straight sides, the cover lightly domed; light gray stoneware with dark caramel-brown glaze on the exterior and transparent colorless glaze on the interior; base unglazed. From the Huangpu kilns, Tongchuan, Yaozhou county, Shaanxi province.
with cover: H. 3.3 x Diam. 5 cm (1 5/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
[Kaikodo, New York, October 1999] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (1999-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.
Lacquer on wood with decoration in gold, silver, and aokin (gold-silver) utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), togidashi maki-e (sprinkled design revealed by polishing), nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground), and e-nashiji (pictorial "pear-skinned" ground) techniques; gilt-copper fittings [tray with decoration of cranes in takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design) may be a later replacement]
18th centuryJapaneseMetal
19th centuryFrenchLacquer on wood with Kōdaiji-style decoration in gold and silver utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design), nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground), e-nashiji (pictorial "pear-skinned" ground), and harigaki (linear incising) techniques; [modern] silver fittings
16th centuryJapanesePale greenish white nephrite with white inclusions
18th-19th centuryChineseOff-white stoneware with pale celadon glaze over decoration applied in white slip, the decoration embellished with incising and with touches of iron-brown slip in localized areas. Possibly from the Yaozhou kilns, near Tongchuan, Shaanxi province.
9th centuryChinesePale greenish white nephrite
18th-19th centuryChineseBronze, with damascened overlays of cut sheet silver, the bronze with induced gunmetal gray surface color
19th-20th centuryKoreanLacquer 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), nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground), and kanagai (sheet-gold appliqué) techniques, and with applied kirigane (cut gold and silver)
18th centuryJapaneseWood, secured with wooden pegs, and with brass fittings
19th centuryKoreanLiao sancai ("three-color") ware: molded ivory-hued earthenware with lead-fluxed, emerald-green and caramel-yellow glazes
11th-12th centuryChineseMaki-e designs in gold and silver on nashi-ji lacquer ground
Japanese