Description
The two people on the left of this box lid's design are Portuguese traders, identifiable by their balloon-shaped pants. Facing them is a Jesuit priest in a long robe. Portuguese ships arrived in Japan in the 1540s. Imagery first made to document the appearance of the foreigners survived as decoration on later objects like this one.
Provenance
(Robert Rousset [1901–1982], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1965); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1965–)
Accession Number
1969.59
Medium
lacquered wood with gold maki-e, silver inlay and red lacquer on black ground
Dimensions
23 x 20.2 cm (9 1/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
Classification
Lacquer
Credit Line
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
