A JAPANESE EXPORT GILT AND BLACK LACQUER CABINET

A JAPANESE EXPORT GILT AND BLACK LACQUER CABINET

EDO PERIOD, 17TH/18TH CENTURY

Of rectangular form with a flat top, the pictorial-style cabinet with two hinged doors to the front decorated with an extensive landscape, with temples and pavilions nestled in the hills; the right door painted with buildings reminiscent of Kiyomizudera and Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto; the sides with depictions of flowering peonies and bamboo; all rendered in gold and silver hiramaki-e on the black roiro lacquer ground; the front doors decorated to the inside with two pairs of cranes, and opening to reveal eight drawers of various sizes and two smaller doors with lockplates; the drawers embellished with further birds, flowers, and pavilions in landscapes; the back with a paper label for 'Curtiss & Sons, Ltd. Depositories: Comdr A. E. Johnstone (?), no.112'; with a built-in stand and raised again on an associated European stand with chinoiserie decoration, 149cm high overall, the cabinet 88.5cm x 102cm x 53.5cm. (2)

Cf. O Impey & C Jörg, Japanese Export Lacquer (1580-1850), pp.130-34 where comparable cabinets are illustrated and discussed.

The label at the back refers to Curtiss & Sons, a storehouse opened in the 1860s and first located in Portsmouth, UK, before expanding to the rest of the country. Portsmouth is home to the Royal Navy and the word 'Comdr' is a shortened version of Commander. Commander Johnstone may thus have been a member of the Royal Navy.