Meiji Period Japanese Black Lacquer Box

A rectangular hinged box with rounded corners, the lid and sides finished in black lacquer and decorated overall with a gilt pictorial scene worked in low relief: a thatched-roof village with stilted huts, a fenced platform structure, and figures in traditional dress engaged in harvesting fruit from a tree, one climbing a ladder while others gather below. Birds appear in flight above, with additional foliage, baskets, and a barrel filling out the composition. The reverse and base are finished in plain black lacquer.

The gilt figural technique and pastoral genre scene are consistent with Meiji period (1868–1912) Japanese lacquerware, in which pictorial compositions were built up in low relief using gold or metallic powders over a black lacquer ground.

Origin: Japan 
Period: Meiji period, 1868–1912
Materials: Lacquered wood, gilt decoration