Two 'shiwen' gold and polychrome lacquer small boxes and covers
18th/19th centuryThe Japanese-style boxes variously in the form of a melon with leafy tendrils and double gourds suspended from leafy stems with a bat to the top. 11.5cm and 8.5cm (4.1/2in and 3.3/8in) long. (4).
注脚
Shi wen miaojin 識文描金 is the Chinese equivalent of the Japanese Maki-e 蒔絵 lacquer decoration technique. This consists of sprinkling gold or silver powder with a brush over a painted lacquer design covered in a transparent, gluey varnish, to create a low-relief decorative pattern (Shi wen 識文) drawn in gold (miaojin 描金).Lacquer boxes decorated in this technique are illustrated by Li Jiufang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang, Qing Dai Qiqi (Lacquerwares of the Qing Dynasty), Beijing, 2006, pp. 198-202, nos. 149-153.