Table cabinet

The most favoured Japanese lacquer decoration, maki-e, literally ‘sprinkled picture’, consists of painting the outline of an image in wet lacquer and then sprinkling on powdered metal or pigment before it dries. This unique technique was employed in different eras, from the Heian (794–1185 AD) to the Meiji (1868–1912) periods. The same can be said of the use of mother-of-pearl inlay, especially during the Kamakura (1185–1333 AD) and Momoyama (1573–1615) periods.

The most typical lacquer of this period, is the maki-e Kodai-ji, named after the Kodai-ji temple commissioned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s (1658-1716) widow. The most popular designs were inspired by flowers and grasses.

With the arrival of southern Europeans, principally the Portuguese, a hybrid style of lacquerware known as Nanban developed. This combined Japanese and Iberian elements that were already mixed with other Asian decorative features and techniques from India, China and the Ryukyu Islands. Nanban was characterised by the use of mother-of-pearl inlay, repeated geometric patterns and occasionally foreign figures.