Lacquerware

Jewelry Box with Landscapes
Edo period, 17th century

Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 12
October 21, 2025 (Tue) - December 21, 2025 (Sun)

Lacquer is the sap of the lacquer tree, which grows in East and Southeast Asia. Naturally sticky, it can be brushed onto different materials, and hardens into a durable coating that is waterproof and resistant to acids, alkalis, and heat. Because of its versatility and beauty, lacquer has been central to daily life in parts of Asia for over 9,000 years.

In Japan, artisans coated everyday items with lacquer, including furniture, boxes, dining sets, and cosmetic and writing tools. The base material could be wood, pottery, cloth, leather, or paper. To decorate these items, artisans painted designs with a mixture of lacquer and pigment, or used lacquer like a glue to inlay metal and mother-of-pearl.

But the pinnacle of lacquer decoration in Japan is maki-e (sprinkled picture). It consists of painting a design with lacquer, and then sprinkling metal powders onto the sticky lacquer before it hardens. Artisans first used maki-e techniques in the 8th century. As shown in this gallery, they developed them to an extraordinary degree over the centuries.

Major Work(s) on Exhibit 4 results

	Designation	Name	Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance	Period	Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number	CMT
Highlight	Important Cultural Property	Writing Box with Mount Otoko		Muromachi period, 15th century	H-34
Highlight		Mirror Box with a Chinese Lion and Peonies		Nanbokuchō period, 14th century	H-27
Highlight	Important Art Object	Sutra Box with Phoenixes and Paulownia Crests		Muromachi–Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century	H-4385
Highlight		Jewelry Box with Landscapes		Edo period, 17th century	H-4396

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