About the middle of the sixteenth century, a new style of decorative finish was introduced that incorporated the texture of coarse cloth into lacquers. In this lacquered-cloth technique, which is also known as “pressed-cloth” or “red-cornered” lacquer, a fairly thin, coarse, grill-like cloth is covered with a thin layer of red lacquer, permitting the outlines of the material to be seen in slight relief. The material served two purposes. It reinforced the underlying wooden form and at the same time allowed the artist a contrasting color and texture to complement the smooth and elegant makie finish on the rest of surfaces. Lacquer boxes made in this style usually had four fairly large corner areas that revealed this undersurface, lacquered in cinnabar red. Hence this type of box came to be called “red-cornered” (“sumiaka”). This technique changed little for the next two hundred years and was usually reserved for large document boxes because their construction and finish were time-consuming and expensive. Because of the techniques involved, this style of lacquer is almost impossible to reproduce. (This unusual type of lacquer is described on page 142 and illustrated in Figure 43 in “Symbol & Substance in Japanese Lacquer: Lacquer Boxes from the Collection of Elaine Ehrenkranz” by Barbra Okada.)

CONDITION is remarkably good, considering the box’s age and fragility. There is some minor cracking in two of the corners of the cover and a few tiny dents and nicks, all of which is perfectly consistent with the condition in which these types of boxes are typically found in those rare instances when they do come on the market. A most impressive piece of early Japanese lacquer ware.

To Japanese women, hair ornaments were much more than mere accessories to feminine hair-do and attire. The comb progressed from a utilitarian object to a highly decorative one on which craftsmen and artists lavished their imagination and skill. In keeping with their inclination to beautify even ordinary items of everyday use, the Japanese turned hair ornaments into extraordinary artistic objects that mirrored the cultural and social history of the period. They reflected the life and status of their wearers, who were geisha, courtesans, ladies in the court and women in their homes. In their own small way, combs and hairpins provide a miniature glimpse of the exceptional beauty of Japanese art. (See the wonderful article “Combs and Hairpins” by Sharon Ziesnitz and Takeguchi Momoko in DARUMA 35, Summer 2002.)

During a Shinto style wedding, the marriage is consecrated in the ritual of “san-san kudo,” where the bride and groom each drink from three sake cups three times. The families of the bride and groom would bring sake to the wedding ceremony in a matched pair of large black lacquered boxes like these. This style of lacquered wooden sake container, which is rectangular in shape with inset ends, is called a sleeve cask because its shape is reminiscent of a Japanese kimono sleeve. Although sodedaru were originally made for ceremonial use by the higher classes, by the middle of the 19th century these rugged lacquer utensils were made for use by everyone.

The Somada style of lacquering developed in the mid-18th century. The highly skilled craftsmen of this school specialized in intricate mosaic inlays of rich colorful iridescent aogai shell and often tiny pieces of gold and silver foil. Tiny flakes of rainbow-colored shell were sliced paper-thin and imbedded flush with the lustrous black roiro lacquered surface to form a precise and highly intricate design. Their black background lacquer was deep in color and usually of excellent quality. Their works were rarely signed. The word “Somada” has come to be a generic term used to describe this style of lavish and highly colorful inlay. (See “Inro and Other Miniature Forms of Japanese Lacquer Art” by Melvin and Betty Jahss.)