c. 1860
8.8 x 17.5 x 9 cm (3 7/16 x 6 7/8 x 3 9/16 in.)
Carl Chiarenza, Rochester, New York, acquired from Nicholas Dean, 1961, sold to Harvard University Art Museums, 1997. (Nicholas Dean, private collector, Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Lacquer 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 centuryJapaneseIvory with velvet lining
18th centuryBritishLacquer on wood with decoration in black, gold, silver, and red utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design) and nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground) techniques
19th centuryJapaneseLacquered wood: wooden core with light brown lacquer (possibly over a leather substrate) and inlays of mother-of-pearl, sharkskin or ray skin, wire, twisted wire, and metal fillings
18th-19th centuryKoreanHuangpu ware: light gray stoneware covered all over with white slip, the decoration painted in localized areas of discontinuous dark brown glaze. From the Huangpu kilns, Tongchuan, Shaanxi province
9th centuryChineseRosewood with metal (brass and copper?) fittings, the interior of the box lined with silk damask
18th centuryKoreanLiao sancai ("three-color") ware: molded ivory-hued earthenware with lead-fluxed, emerald-green and caramel-yellow glazes
11th-12th centuryChineseLacquer on wood with decoration in gold utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground), and harigaki (linear incising) techniques; lead-alloy fittings
16th centuryJapaneseOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, brass chips, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard
19th centuryLacquer on wood with decoration in zonsei-nuri (incised and painted lacquer) and gold utilizing the togidashi maki-e (sprinkled design revealed by polishing) technique; silk cord
18th centuryJapaneseLacquer on wood with decoration in gold utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design), and kanagai (sheet-gold appliqué) techniques, and with applied kirigane (cut gold); stone and metal fittings
18th centuryJapaneseLacquer 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
18th-19th centuryJapanese