Lacquer Box With Mother-of-pearl Decoration. Korea, Joseon Dynasty. 19th Century

Lacquer box applied with mother-of-pearl. Korea Joseon Dynasty. 19th century. Wooden box covered with red Urushi lacquer. A decoration of mother-of-pearl diamonds, forming a mosaic, covers it entirely except in the center of the lid where immortelle peonies are represented. The interior is lacquered in red, the underside in dark brown. Old Korean lacquers are rare, they are always in black or dark brown lacquer, it is exceptional to find red ones, the technique being more complicated and the results uncertain. This particularity reinforces the idea that this is an unusual important order as confirmed by the artist's selection of the most beautiful pink and green parts of the mother-of-pearl, the perfect regularity of the diamonds as well as the presence of reinforcing textile that can be seen in the uneven places and which is only present on quality objects. Many missing diamonds, however the ease of working the mother-of-pearl, would make the restoration technically easy and perfect. However, due to its rarity, this box could appear in the most interesting collections without any restoration, keeping the stigmata of great age, like a venerable old man with wrinkles and scars. Dimensions: 145x110x75mm