Japanese Lacquer Cabinet Made For Holland. Namban Style. 17° Century.

Very rare Japanese lacquer cabinet made for Dutch export. Two doors and one drawer in front. Inside a series of drawers of different sizes. The quality of this model is excellent and surpasses that of the usual cabinets of this period. The landscape decorations are very finely and artistically painted, in particular the trees whose foliage seems to sway in the wind. The frames of the panels are painted in the "honeycomb" style which requires a lot of work and precision and is only found on high quality lacquers, there are 2 other "honeycomb" models of which I am attaching photos, one at the "Staateliche Munzsammlung" and the second at the "Kinzvart Castel". Both are published in Oliver Impey's excellent book. It is interesting to compare the door on the right and the one on the left, whose designs are painted by two different artists. The interior is particularly rich and, as often, well preserved. Some rocks are in very pronounced relief. The lock cover between the bottom drawers is missing, showing the nashiji's original orange color. Fortunately this cabinet has never been restored which is exceptional and the noble Urushi lacquer has not been covered with bad varnish or shellac. The frames are all in yellow metal (bronze or brass) of very thin thickness, gilded with mercury. The lacquer bears the marks of its 4 centuries of existence, cracks, splits, withdrawals, shocks and wear. See the pictures. Japanese work around 1650. Dimensions: 445 x 435 x 30 cm.