Alexander George Antiques Ltd. has dated this Japanese Lacquer Miniature Cabinet to the 19th Century.
This fine lacquer stacking cabinet of gold and black is a variation on a cabinet for incense.
All of the original eleven components are present.
The opening up of Japan in the mid-1850s after more than two centuries of seclusion from the rest of the world triggered a huge interest in Japanese art and design. Western collectors, artists and designers particularly admired lacquer, for which they had no equivalent.
Further reading:
This stacking cabinet relates closely to an example purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum at the Paris Exhibition of 1867 (accession number: 875 to J-1869). This and subsequent international exhibitions were largely responsible for introducing Japanese art to the Western public. Lacquerwork formed a central part of the Japanese displays at these exhibitions. Some examples were old, but the majority, like this piece, were new or nearly new. The V&A acquired 20 items of Japanese lacquerwork from the Paris Exhibition.
It is plausible that this item was purchased at the Paris Exhibition in 1867.
Provenance: Private collection Salisbury.
Alexander George Antiques Ltd. has dated this Japanese Lacquer Miniature Cabinet to the 19th Century.
Offering carefully selected antique masterpieces from the 17th & 18th centuries
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Signed 19th C. Meiji Diminutive Lacquer Stacking Cabinet, C. 1850-1867, Japan
