An antique Japanese Chobako (merchant box) made of Hinoki (Cypress) and Kiri (Paulownia) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware. Upper carrying handle and hinged door that hides 4 drawers of varying sizes used by a merchant to store writing paper, receipts, money and calligraphy brushes.

Age: Meiji Period (1880-1890)

Dimensions: 10" Wide by 12 1/4" High by 14 3/4" Deep

Polylobed lacquer box (kobako) with chrysanthemum decoration. On the lid, maki-e lacquer decoration, a slight relief in the center of the two flowers. Sides in fundame and base in nashi-ji.

Inside, two decorations of vegetal landscapes with flowers (campanulas, pampas, pampers) and butterflies in maki-e on a nashi-ji background...

An antique Fubako, letter box, of a rarely seen design with a black ground having a flowing gold sprinkled pattern featuring wheel and wind/water designs in relief. There is also a lovely sprinkled design to the interior. The exterior bottom, which is covered when the box is closed, has the wheel designs and is very bright showing very little if any wear. Still retaining its original silk tasseled roping, this box is in superb condition...

Inrō with four boxes in black and gold lacquer, representing characters and a pavilion in a snowy landscape.

Small boxes formed of compartments that fit one on top of the other, inrō (印 籠) are traditional Japanese clothing items. Since the kimono had no pockets, everyday objects were carried in small boxes (sagemono) hung on the belt (obi)...

Inrô in gilded lacquer according to the takamaki-e, hiramaki-e and kirigane techniques, with five squares of a mountain lake landscape.

On the first side, there is a samurai on horseback, who is drinking from the stream. A servant accompanies him, his sword in hand. Next to the pine tree are the things they would have left behind...

A Japanese Kobako (personal storage box) designed with beautiful Yosegi Zaiku marquetry. Made in the Hakone region in Kanagawa Prefecture, it is a single drawer style used to store precious Okimono and treasures.

Yosegi Zaiku is a Japanese traditional craft dating back to the Edo Period (1603-1868). Wooden rods of varying natural colors are cut into elongated geometric shapes and glued together to form solid blocks...

Rectangular Japanese lidded box with superbly crafted gold nashiji maki-e lacquer having wonderful raised gold birds. The designs on the top continue onto all 4 sides and the attention to details are really amazing. Dates Late Edo to Early Meiji. Condition is excellent as this came from a private collection. Measures: 3" long, 2.5" wide, 2" high

Mid Meiji black lacquer gold maki-e borders document box. Features three raised gold designs with very fine details and Japanese characters. The has a gold sprinkled nashiji interior. In excellent condition, it measures: Length 10-1/8" x Width 3-3/4" x Height 2-1/8". Circa 1890. More photos available upon request.

Large suzuribako showing on its cover a mountainous landscape, crossed by a river, bordered by two houses and trees such as pine trees and cherry trees in bloom. It could be Okabe, the twenty-first of the fifty-three stations of the Tôkaidô. The bottom is gilded in the fundame technique, decorated with takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, hirameji and kirigane...

Small Japanese circular covered box in gold nashiji and maki-e lacquer with the lid having a lovely display of iris flowers in a stream setting created in both low and raised relief lacquer work The sides also feature raised delicate designs that complete this perfect little box. In excellent antique condition, it measures 2-1/2" diameter and 1-7/8" high. Dates Late Edo or Early Meiji and a piece worthy of a collector.

Lacquer kobako box with two compartments in the shape of a fan. Decorated with pine trees near a stream on all sides in takamaki-e, hiramaki-e techniques with a nashi-ji background. On the upper side, a couple of cranes are looking for food on the ground, while three baby cranes are waiting in the nest located in the pine tree. Interior in nashi-ji lacquer.

Japan - Edo period (1603-1868)

Height: 1.8 in...

Rectangular box for paper (Ryōshibako) decorated with birds and pine trees.

The lid presents a design mixing several techniques of lacquer work. This is visible with the three cranes represented in the middle of pine branches in gilded maki–e (a precious metallic varying density powdered sprayed onto a base or background of fresh lacquer) on a black background.

The crane in the center is in brown lacquer with metallic pigments...

Beautiful example of an 18th Japanese suzuribako (calligraphy box) made with a gold maki-e lacquer scene of huts near a mountain stream. The interior of the box holds rests for brushes and a compartment for an ink stone as well as a small silver water dropper. The entire inside including the underside of the lid is covered in a lovely dense nashiji (fine gold flakes suspended in clear lacquer) with young pine branches in maki-e lacquer...

Antique Japanese rectangular lacquer stationary box with a large parrot sitting on a corn stock and eyeing an ear of corn. Raised maki-e lacquer in gold and various shades of dark green and brown. The sides are further decorated with more ears of corn (a grasshopper sitting on one). The lacquer work contains great details like the texture of the parrot's feather and the stringy silk of the corn...

Edo Era, circa 1850s-1860s, Japanese red lacquer over wood Japanese Bento Box in 5 sections. The exterior features Shibayama style of inlay on a red lacquer ground with the interior and underside being black lacquer. The Shibayama design has several types of stone inlays including MOP with branching, cherry blossoms, leaves, buds and rockery all done in raised work. The workmanship is very good...

Antique Japanese suzuki-bako, calligraphy box. Lacquered with a profusion of wildflowers in gold maki-e technique on black lacquer ground...

Beautiful and original Japanese suzuribako lacquer decorated with flowers and foliage on a nashi-ji gradient lacquer. The interior is in black lacquer with a water cup and ink stone.

Japan – 20th century

Height : 2.17 in. (5.5 cm) – Length : 12.20 in. (31 cm) – Width : 9.65 in. (24.5 cm)

Six compartments inrô in black, gold and silver lacquer, depicting cranes in a landscape. The inside is in nashi-ji lacquer. Signed Kajikawa underneath.

Kajikawa was one of the most talented families of lacquer artists, specializing in inrô. They worked for the Tokugawa shogunate from the 17th to the 19th century. It is almost impossible to assign any individual pieces to the different members of this family. They often used encrustations of metal or nacre. Kaji...