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.

DIMENSIONS: 14” (35.5 cm) long, 10 ½” (26.7 cm) wide, 10” (25.4 cm) high.