Rektangulär kista med välvt lock, dekor i guld hiramaki-e med inläggningar i pärlemor på svart grund. Locket och sidorna med dekor av växtslingor, runt om en bård med nambanslinga. Beslag av lackerad koppar. Mått 15,5x11x10 cm.
Slitage, dekorbortfall.
Compare a similar chest at Christies, May 11th 2015, European Courts encounter Japan, Auction 11671, lot no 1.
The word Namban. In 1543, a Chinese boat carrying Portuguese sailors went aground off the Japanese coast — setting in motion what was to be a most lively, profitable, and prolonged cultural interchanges. Iberian Catholics began arriving to the island country in droves, in search of trade and converts.
Japanese-Western relations got off to a rocky start. The suspicion and contempt were mutual. Because they sailed from the south, the Japanese called these strange, unfathomable beings, ‘Southern Barbarians’ (namban).