INLAID SUTRA BOX

Bronze, with damascened overlays of cut sheet silver, the bronze with induced gunmetal gray surface color

Lacquer on wood with decoration in gold and silver utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design), and nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground) techniques, and with silver and raden (mother-of-pearl) inlays; metal fittings

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), nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground), and e-nashiji (pictorial "pear-skinned" ground) techniques and with glazed-ceramic and raden (mother-of-pearl) inlays; stone and lacquered-copper fittings

Mahogany and brass

Enameled 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

Lacquer on wood

Silver and wax

Lacquer

Metal

Lacquer on wood with decoration in wakasa-nuri (layered lacquer and gold foil over a thick base-coat impressed with various shapes and sprinkled with raden [mother-of-pearl] flakes), gold, silver, and sabi urushi (thick lacquer paste) utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design), and togidashi maki-e (sprinkled design revealed by polishing) techniques, and with tsuishu (carved red lacquer), malachite, and carnelian inlays; stone and metal fittings

Silver

Lacquer on wood with decoration in gold utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design) technique and with raden (mother-of-pearl) inlays