Large Japanese Red Lacquer Box with Internal Lift-Out Tray, early 20th century

A large red lacquer box with a low relief pheasant and duck beneath a blossom tree in black with gold highlights. The inside has a lift-out tray.

The box is made of Japanese horse chestnut or zelkova wood and painted over with urushi, or the sap from the lacquer tree, to fortify the wood. The tree must be tapped carefully, as in its raw form the liquid is poisonous to the touch. Three to five years after being harvested, the resin is treated to make an extremely resistant, honey-textured lacquer. After filtering, homogenization and dehydration, the sap becomes transparent and can be tinted in black, red, yellow, green or brown.

The process of applying the lacquer is very labour intensive as the surface is repeatedly polished and painted over with urushi. The low relief pattern is applied. Traditionally pure gold is applied.