Name: A Lacquered Copper Tobacco Box Depicting Deshima Island and Nagasaki Bay
Brand: SASAYA WORKSHOP, KYOTO, EDO PERIOD (LATE 18TH-EARLY 19TH CENTURY)
Price: 4000.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

FROM THE COLLECTION OF MIKE AND HIROKO DEAN

A Lacquered Copper Tobacco Box Depicting Deshima Island and Nagasaki Bay
Sasaya Workshop, Kyoto, Edo period (late 18th-early 19th century)
The rounded-rectangular copper box and hinged cover decorated in gold, silver and black hiramaki-e [low-relief lacquer] and takamaki-e [high-relief lacquer] with a view of ships in Nagasaki Bay, Deshima Island to the lower left, the side of the cover with two strips of scrolling karakusa and the cover edged with a line of inlaid mother-of-pearl, the front of the box with inscription Gezicht van de baay van Nagasaki in Japan [view of the Bay of Nagasaki in Japan], the sides also decorated with cherry blossoms and petals, the interior black lacquer
13.3 x 7.9 x 2.5cm.

Published
Akio Haino, Nihon no Bijutsu, No. 231, (Japan, 1987), p. 78
Japanese Lacquer Nambokucho to Zeshin: The Collection of Mike and Hiroko Dean, (London, 2002), p. 193-4

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Lot Essay

This rare type of Japanese rectangular tobacco box was based on Dutch metal models, and would have been made to private order by one of the Dutch employees working at Deshima during this period. There is another similar example, where lacquer has also been applied to a copper base, in the Groninger Museum with a view of Mount Fuji with an inscription inside the lid Aandenken van A. Verhey aan P. Weslingh Lublink [Souvenir of A. Verhey to P. Weslingh Lublink].¹

1. Oliver Impey and Christiaan Jorg, Japanese Export Lacquer (1580-1850), (Amsterdam, 2005), p. 61.