Edo/Meiji tortoise lacquer box, nice
About 3" x 4" with much wear. Is there a proper name for the form of this lidded box? I see an abstracted tortoise form. Lacquer on wood I believe. Was it for a certain, specific use? Pics are enhanced a bit. Thanks.
Thank you for you
17 comments
sonomabarn67
OP3 years agoI just checked that link, should open. Maybe Malaysian? Other ?
sonomabarn67
OP3 years agoMy best guess was Japanese. Malaysian?
sonomabarn67
OP3 years agoI've also noticed wear notches on the lid edges as if a cord was tied around it. Maybe a purse.There is a word in Japanese for that, anybody know?
Have found a few turtle boxes but none abstracted like this.
sonomabarn67
OP3 years agoThat word is Inro. One would tie to the kimino sash. Though mine seems a touch big for that.
sonomabarn67
OP3 years agoJust so there is no confusion, this is NOT a box made of tortoise shell, it is a box in the shape of a tortoise made of wood and lacquer.
annadryl
·3 years agoAside from being a need little box for tortoise shell guitar picks (long illegal, now they're tortex) I'd just call it a general trinket box or pill box.
sonomabarn67
OP3 years agoThanks, so do you think Edo or Meiji?
maxine*j
·3 years agoWell, I know pretty much nothing about the characteristics used to date lacquerware. I can say only that the design is so graphical that I'd put it as "newer" rather than "older." So if it is Japanese from either the Edo period (1603-1868) or the Meiji period (1868-1912), I'd put in Meiji, based on the design.
It is surely a little gem.
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sonomabarn67
OP3 years agoI think that the honest heavy wear on the head and base indicates daily use for a time and the term Edo/Meiji reflects the difficulty in pin pointing an exact date unless signed or if recorded into a collection, etc. That wood is used as the substrate says to me (older) rather than (newer) plastic, Another thing I noticed is while it is a lacquer box, the details are in gold paints.
The blue is a paper liner.
I'm finding that looking through completed auctions for "Japanese Edo/Meiji lacquer boxes" at Christies and Sotheby's is helpful. So many to look at though.
maxine*j
·3 years agoAre you finding figural boxes, such as this one is? They seem scarce in the searches I'm able to do. (The link you gave in a previous post will not open for me.)
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sonomabarn67
OP3 years agomelda58
·3 years agoI can't see the design near the head, but the lower designs look like paper clips, so maybe meant as a desk accessory.
Rita
sonomabarn67
OP3 years agoYou mean like this? https://www.christies.com/lot/a-set-of-lacquer-stationery-box-ryoshibako-6362188/?intObjectID=6362188&lid=1
sonomabarn67
OP3 years agoI just found a tail on the back end.
melda58
·3 years agoIn that yours and the one in the link would sit on a desk, yes.
Rita
maxine*j
·3 years agoAre these just artifacts of use? I mean, are they just marks left behind from paper clips or whatever was stored in it?
mmadigan
·3 years agoOr money clips? Could it be a men's "jewellery" box, a place to leave his money clip, watch, rings, cuff links etc at night so they do not clutter up the top of the dresser. Someone made me one once in the shape of a small whale.