Antique Japanese Lacquer Collar Box

The Japanese have made lacquer-ware for at least 7000 years. Fine lacquering is a painstaking process.  Artists apply multiple layers of colored or clear, refined sap from the Urushi tree to a base structure, usually of wood, and bring the surface it to a desired finish by repeated polishing. It is also a dangerous process due to the toxicity of the raw Urushi sap which needs to be cured for 3 to 5 years before use.  Over the course of the centuries, artisans have developed various specialized decorative techniques such as Maki-e, the sprinkling of gold or silver powder into a clear lacquer layer. Negoro, the mix of black and red lacquers which appears on our box, is another. The 3-drawer box (ca 1920) is unusual for its size, decoration, and purpose. It was meant to serve as a collar box, either for export to the West or for a member of the Japanese elite. The use of shirt collars complied with the Westernization of Japanese men's clothing imposed during the Meiji reformation and cont