Excellent Japanese sumiakabako or red-cornered gilt lacquered incense box of a rounded rectangular form with overhanging cover. With black-lacquered maki-e decorated lid and shaped panels set against a red-lacquered cloth (sumi-aka) ground. Nashiji-decorated interior.
Good antique condition with some age-related surface wear and loss of applied gold leaf decoration as per photographs.
Dimensions: 9.5×7.5×7 cm
References
Christies sale Edo to Post-War: 500 years of Japanese Art and Design, 3-17 November 2016, lot 54 – A LACQUER KOGO [INCENSE BOX]
Christie’s sale of The Bob Moore Collection of Japanese Art and Design, 5-7 November 2007, lot 42 – A sumiakabako [red-cornered box]
Burghley House collection, object reference JWA09056 – A small sumiaka-shaped box, late 18th/early 19th Century.
Mike and Hiroko Dean, Nihon no Shikki Japanese Lacquer – an Exposition (Kyoto, 1984), no. 60
Origin: Japan
Date of production: Edo period (1603-1868)
Material: gilt lacquered wood
