Lacquerware in its most decorative form was first developed during the Shang Dynasty although primitive prehistoric examples have been found.
Lacquerwares include amber, jet, jade, quartz, chalcedony, agate, amethyst, sard, onyx, carnelion, heliotrope and jasper. Below are some examples of lacquerware boxes.
Red cinnibar laquerware Chinese box carved with a peony pattern from the Yongle period
A lacquer tobacco box
Taisho era (1912-1926)
The rectangular box decorated in gold, silver and red togidashi maki-e with hirame embellishments on a roiro ground with a design of autumn flowers and grasses, the interior dense nashiji, silver rims. With a wood storage box 5 1/2 x 4 3/8 x 1 7/8in (14.5 x 11.1 x 4.7cm) long
Sold for US$ 2,500 at Bonhams
A LACQUER WRITING BOX (SUZURIBAKO) WITH A LOBSTER
EDO PERIOD (19TH CENTURY)
Decorated in red, black, and gold takamaki-e (high-relief lacquer), hiramaki-e (low-relief lacquer), kirikane and uchikomi (hollows in rocks and trees, filled with gold), with a lobster against a black and mura-nashiji ground, the interior with waves crashing over rocks under a large moon inlaid in silver, silver waterdropper in the form of two clamshells, slate inkstone
24.7 x 21.5 x 5.3 cm.
Sold for GBP 5,250 at Christies
Southeast Asian red lacquered lidded box, the lid with raised bands of concentric circles and a spiral finial, the box raised on a pedestal base, interior set with an insert, 22.75″w. Sold for $175 at Clars Auction Gallery
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire). Oak veneered with ebony and 17th-century Japanese lacquer; interiors veneered with tulipwood, amaranth, holly, and ebonized holly; gilt-bronze mounts; marble top; velvet (not original) c1783. Made by Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris). The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A German rococo gilt-brass mounted japanned travelling writing box attributed to the workshop of Martin Schnell, Dresden, circa 1730
the moulded top opening to a single red-lacquered and painted compartment, the main compartment decorated in aventurine lacquer, above a single drawer subdivided in irregular compartments; on a later ebonised stand the box: 31cm. high, 53cm. wide, 31cm. deep; the stand: 51cm. high, 54cm. wide, 30cm. deep; 1ft., 1ft. 9in., 1ft.; 1ft. 8in., 1ft. 9¼in., 1ft. Sold for 12,500 GBP at Sothebys
This is a five-tiered box used to store side dishes. The surface of the box was covered with hemp before being lacquered and decorated with mother-of- pearl inlay. The lid and the four sides of each tier are adorned with peony scrolls including full-bloomed flower heads, acanthus leaves, and vines. They are inlaid in mosaics of thin strips of mother-of-pearl for the vine and in mother-of-pearl cut- outs for the flowers and leaves with details of peony flowers expressed in incised lines. The inside of the lid is embellished with orchid flowers and leaves. Decorations on the rim of each tier and on the four sides of the lid are made with broken pieces of mother-of- pearl. The height of each of the tiers decreases towards the top, and each tier has short legs to make the upper plate stable. Victoria and Albert Museum
Bird Offering Container Box.Donations to temples are believed to confer merit not only on the donor but also on all living beings. For this reason, altars are filled with gifts, such as food, flowers, and incense, that have been donated by devotees. Beautifully crafted vessels like this one, with its image of a semi-divine bird known as a hamsa, were given to hold these items. Medium: wood, metal, gilding, glass inlay, lacquer, and leather. 19th-20th century, Myanmar. The Art Walter Museum
Lacquerware is named because of the technique used, which is that the item is covered with lacquer, a clear varnish.
Lacquerware boxes are not the only items which used this technique. Other objects includ Chinese furniture and other oriental furniture.
Antique lacquerware boxes can sometimes be inlaid with substances such as mother of pearl or it can sometimes be carved as in the image of the red cinnibar lacquerware box of the Yongle period.
History of Antique Lacquerware Boxes
Sophisticated techniques for creating lacquerware first appeared during the Shang Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty saw the beginning of elaborate, incised decoration while the Tang Dynasy saw precious metals such as gold and silver being inlaid into lacquerware. Much of this inlay consisted of birds, animals and flowers.
Burmese Lacquerware
Burmese lacquerware uses the sap tapped from the varnish tree Melanorrhoea usitatissima or Thitsee that grows wild in the forests of Myanmar (formerly Burma).
