Japanese Red Lacquer Wood Case

Japanese Red Lacquer Wood Case is an original decorative object made in Japan in the first decades of the XX century.

Original lacquer wood manufacture.

Good conditions.

Fine and antique decorative object made in Japan. It is a large Japanese lacquer wood case of the 20th century with a cover and handle composed by an elephant small sculture. The manufact is shaped like a urn and is entirely covered by a bright luminous red lacquer. Lacquer is part of the artistic heritage of many East Asian countries, from Tokyo to Rangoon, from Beijing to Bangkok. Each region exploited the properties of this material for practical purposes. Japan has expressed the potential of lacquer wood objects in a superb way, in a style between the "national" taste and external stylistic influences, especially the Chinese one. The tradition of " Shikki " (lacquered objects) has a very long history in Japan, and it still survives today. Initially appreciated by the court aristocracy and by the Buddhist clergy, starting from the Muromachi period (1336-1573) the shikki began to be used also by the common people. Until the Meiji restoration (1868) the producers based the value and the meaning of their work on the prestige of the customers. After the cultural upheavals of the Meiji period, they began conceiving the creations as expressions of individual creativity.