Late 19th or early 20th century Japanese Cloisonne Box

Antiques : Japanese : Cloisonne

 

This luscious box glows with its profusion of flowers and subtle yet vibrant colors. The white background allows each blossom to stand out, while the green foliage ties them together into a lovely summer composition. The sides are simple, with silver wire scrolls and blue flowers. And most fun – the turquoise base is even decorated with delicate silver scrolls!

Although this box is unmarked, the style and high quality workmanship leads us to believe this box was made by the Inaba cloisonné company in Kyoto. This company began in 1887 and still exists today; it is known for its high quality products. Detailed floral designs such as these and the scroll and flower side panels are all found on Inaba boxes from the late 1800s and into the early 1900s.

This box measures 4.5” by 3.25” and is 1.5” tall. It has a hinge on one side. The inside metal was at one time silver colored (or plated), but much of that has worn off. The metal around the top and bottom edges is copper that also was at one time silver colored. The inside has spots of wear and a couple of areas with corrosion. There are very fine age cracks in the enamel here and there, particularly on the back panel. These are not unusual given the age of this lovely piece.

Marked Inaba boxes such as these sell for many hundreds of dollars more than we are pricing this piece. Although unmarked, it is truly a glorious example of old Japanese cloisonné.

Item ID: 0276