Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Details

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Associated place

Asia › Japan (place of creation)

Date

late 18th century - 1st half of the 19th century

Material and technique

wood, covered in nashiji lacquer, inlaid with pearl shell, and with takamaki-e and hiramaki-e lacquer decoration; pewter rims

Dimensions

2 cm (height)
7.8 cm (diameter)

Material index

organic › vegetal › wood,

organic › vegetal › resin › lacquer,

organic › animal › shell › pearlshell,

processed material › metal › alloy › pewter,

processed material › metal › gold

Technique index

formed › carved,

carved,

covered › inlaid,

covered › coated › varnished › lacquered

Object type index

container › box › incense-box,

religious/ritual equipment › incense equipment › incense-container › incense-box,

container › incense-container › incense-box,

miscellaneous equipment › lid

No. of items

2

Credit line

Presented by Sir Herbert Ingram, 1956.

Accession no.

EA1956.1803

Glossary (5)

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gō, hiramaki-e, lacquer, nashiji, takamaki-e

gō

Art name
hiramaki-e

(‘flat sprinkled design’) coloured or metal powders sprinkled onto a wet lacquer ground and usually covered with a protective layer of lacquer
lacquer

Chinese and Japanese lacquer is made from the sap of the lacquer tree, which is indigenous to Eastern China. It is applied to wood as a varnish or for decorative effect. In India and the Middle East, lacquer is made from the deposit of the lac insect.
nashiji

(‘pear skin ground’) tiny, irregularly shaped flakes of gold embedded in amber coloured wet lacquer and then polished to a fine sheen
takamaki-e

(high relief sprinkled design’) makie technique in which parts of the design are built up with lacquer mixed with charcoal or clay dust

Location

- Second floor | Room 36 | Japan

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.