This Namban casket, known as dogubako, in lacquered wood (urushi), features a hinged domed lid, a square-shaped lock plate (aimeita) with animal heads and an elegant latch, a fiddlehead fern-shaped (warabi-te) top handle, and two hinges at the back (chōtsugai).
The gilt copper ornamental fittings (kazarikanagu) are finely chased with flower motifs on a punched ‘fish roe’ (nanako) background pattern, called nanakoji. While the lock plate decoration includes pumpkins with their large, lobed leaves, and the latch features a minute fish-scale pattern, the hinges depict chrysanthemum flowers in full bloom.
The unusual decoration of the casket, particularly the front and domed lid, consists of vertical rectangular panels set with mother-of-pearl inlay (raden), bordered by a chequered frieze along the casket’s edges, which also separates each panel from the next. The panel’s complex arrangement features a lobed cartouche in reserve (with flowers) over a crushed mother-of-pearl ground, bordered by a frieze of the well-known endless pearl pattern, named shippōtsunagi. The sides feature the same type of carpet-like composition, with flowers over the black ground in the central field, bordered by a narrow frame of crushed raden and a frieze of lozenges. The back features a simplified version of the front and lid, with vertical floral panels divided by a chequered frieze and bordered by a frame of triangles. The interior and underside are decorated in plain black lacquer.
The refined gold decoration applied to such caskets, called maki-e (literally ‘sprinkled picture’), was common in Momoyama (1568-1600) and early Edo Japan. During this period, a special type lacquerware made for export, which combined mother-of-pearl inlay with hiramaki-e, was called nanban maki-e or nanban shitsugei.[1] Namban, or Nanban-jin (literally, ‘Southern Barbarian’), is a Japanese term derived from Chinese that refers to the Portuguese and Spanish merchants, missionaries, and sailors who arrived in Japan during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The term Namban has also become synonymous with the types of lacquerware and other products commissioned in Japan for its domestic market or for export. These objects reflected Western taste and were modelled after European prototypes. Namban-style products, which were made exclusively for export, commonly combined Japanese techniques, materials, and motifs with European styles and shapes. Namban caskets, like the present example, were apparently used for storing precious belongings, such as jewellery. Made to European specifications, the reflect the Portuguese demand for mother-of-pearl objects, akin to those produced in Gujarat, India.
The present casket is remarkable not only for its preservation state but also its unusual decoration and superior of its gilt copper fittings.


Hugo Miguel Crespo

[1] Of the vast bibliography on Namban lacquerware, see Maria Helena Mendes Pinto, Lacas Namban em Portugal. Presença portuguesa no Japão, Lisbon, Edições Inapa, 1990; Oliver Impey, “Namban Lacquer for the Portuguese Market”, Oriental Art, 46.3 (2000), pp. 42-47; Oliver Impey, Christian J. A. Jorg, Japanese Export Lacquer, 1580-1850, Amsterdam, Brill, 2005; Alexandra Curvelo, “Nanban Art: what's past is prologue”, in Victoria Weston (ed.), Portugal, Jesuits and Japan. Spiritual Beliefs and Earthly Goods (cat.), Chestnut Hill, MA, McMullen of Art, 2013, pp. 71-78; and Teresa Canepa, Silk, Porcelain and Lacquer. China and Japan and their Trade with Western Europe and the New World, 1500-1644, London, Paul Holberton publishing, 2016.
This Namban casket, known as dogubako, in lacquered wood (urushi), features a hinged domed lid, a square-shaped lock plate (aimeita) with animal heads and an elegant latch, a fiddlehead fern-shaped (warabi-te) top handle, and two hinges at the back (chōtsugai).
The gilt copper ornamental fittings (kazarikanagu) are finely chased with flower motifs on a punched ‘fish roe’ (nanako) background pattern, called nanakoji. While the lock plate decoration includes pumpkins with their large, lobed leaves, and the latch features a minute fish-scale pattern, the hinges depict chrysanthemum flowers in full bloom.
The unusual decoration of the casket, particularly the front and domed lid, consists of vertical rectangular panels set with mother-of-pearl inlay (raden), bordered by a chequered frieze along the casket’s edges, which also separates each panel from the next. The panel’s complex arrangement features a lobed cartouche in reserve (with flowers) over a crushed mother-of-pearl ground, bordered by a frieze of the well-known endless pearl pattern, named shippōtsunagi. The sides feature the same type of carpet-like composition, with flowers over the black ground in the central field, bordered by a narrow frame of crushed raden and a frieze of lozenges. The back features a simplified version of the front and lid, with vertical floral panels divided by a chequered frieze and bordered by a frame of triangles. The interior and underside are decorated in plain black lacquer.
The refined gold decoration applied to such caskets, called maki-e (literally ‘sprinkled picture’), was common in Momoyama (1568-1600) and early Edo Japan. During this period, a special type lacquerware made for export, which combined mother-of-pearl inlay with hiramaki-e, was called nanban maki-e or nanban shitsugei.[1] Namban, or Nanban-jin (literally, ‘Southern Barbarian’), is a Japanese term derived from Chinese that refers to the Portuguese and Spanish merchants, missionaries, and sailors who arrived in Japan during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The term Namban has also become synonymous with the types of lacquerware and other products commissioned in Japan for its domestic market or for export. These objects reflected Western taste and were modelled after European prototypes. Namban-style products, which were made exclusively for export, commonly combined Japanese techniques, materials, and motifs with European styles and shapes. Namban caskets, like the present example, were apparently used for storing precious belongings, such as jewellery. Made to European specifications, the reflect the Portuguese demand for mother-of-pearl objects, akin to those produced in Gujarat, India.
The present casket is remarkable not only for its preservation state but also its unusual decoration and superior of its gilt copper fittings.


Hugo Miguel Crespo

[1] Of the vast bibliography on Namban lacquerware, see Maria Helena Mendes Pinto, Lacas Namban em Portugal. Presença portuguesa no Japão, Lisbon, Edições Inapa, 1990; Oliver Impey, “Namban Lacquer for the Portuguese Market”, Oriental Art, 46.3 (2000), pp. 42-47; Oliver Impey, Christian J. A. Jorg, Japanese Export Lacquer, 1580-1850, Amsterdam, Brill, 2005; Alexandra Curvelo, “Nanban Art: what's past is prologue”, in Victoria Weston (ed.), Portugal, Jesuits and Japan. Spiritual Beliefs and Earthly Goods (cat.), Chestnut Hill, MA, McMullen of Art, 2013, pp. 71-78; and Teresa Canepa, Silk, Porcelain and Lacquer. China and Japan and their Trade with Western Europe and the New World, 1500-1644, London, Paul Holberton publishing, 2016.
Este cofre Namban em madeira lacada (urushi), conhecido por dogubako, apresenta tampa abaulada articulada, espelho de fechadura recortada quadrangular (aimeita) com dois animais e aldraba, pega (warabi-te) na tampa, e duas dobradiças no tardoz (chōtsugai).
As ferragens de cobre dourado (kazarikanagu) são finamente cinzeladas com motivos florais sobre fundo puncionado de “ovas de peixe” (nanako) conhecido por nanakoji. A decoração do espelho de fechadura inclui abóboras com suas largas folhas recortadas dois animais e a aldraba com um minucioso padrão de escamas de peixe, sendo as dobradiças ornamentadas com flores de crisântemo em plena floração.
A inusual decoração deste cofre, em especial a frente e a tampa abaulada, consiste em painéis verticais com embutidos de madrepérola (raden), bordejados por cercadura enxaquetada ao logo das arestas, semelhantes àquelas que separam os diferentes painéis. A complexa composição de cada quadro inclui uma cartela recortada em reserva (com flores) sobre fundo de fragmentos de madrepérola, com cercadura do muito conhecido padrão de círculos secantes, conhecido por shippōtsunagi. As ilhargas apresentam o mesmo tipo de composição em tapete, com flores sobre fundo negro no campo central, limitado por moldura estreita de fragmentos de raden e friso de losangos. No tardoz, uma versão simplificada, com painéis florais verticais, separados por friso enxaquetado e cercadura de triângulos. O interior é lacado lacados a negro.
A refinada decoração a ouro aplicada nestes pequenos cofres, conhecida por maki-e (literalmente “imagem salpicada”), é abundante no período Momoyama (1568-1603) e nos inícios do Edo. Durante este período, um tipo de laca destinada à exportação, que combinava embutidos de madrepérola com hiramaki-e, ficou conhecido por nanban maki-e ou nanban shitsugei. Namban, ou Nanban-jin (literalmente, “Bárbaro do Sul”), termo japonês que deriva da língua chinesas e que se refere aos mercadores, missionários e marinheiros, portugueses e espanhóis, que aportaram ao Japão nos séculos XVI e XVII.
Namban tornou-se também sinónimo do tipo de laca e outros produtos encomendados no Japão, para o mercado interno ou para exportação, que reflectiam o gosto ocidental, copiando protótipos europeus. Objectos de estilo Namban, produzidos em exclusivo para exportação, combinavam geralmente técnicas, materiais e motivos japoneses, com estilos decorativos e formas europeias. Os cofres Namban seriam utilizados para conter objectos preciosos, como jóias, sendo manufacturados seguindo orientações europeias e refletem a apetência portuguesa por objectos em madrepérola, como aqueles produzidos no Guzarate, na Índia.
Este nosso cofre é excepcional não apenas pelo seu estado de conservação, mas também pela requintada decoração e a alta qualidade das suas ferragens de cobre dourado.