MID 18TH CENTURY

As a answer to the many Chinese lacquer and coromandel cabinets imported into Europe during the 17th Century through the Dutch and English East India Companies, cabinet-makers throughout Northern Europe began to produce imitation lacquer in the form of painted or varnished decoration, generally known as 'japanning'. In Amsterdam these imitations were made as early as 1610 by William Kick, who executed a large coffer which was presented to the Sultan of Turkey by the States General in 1612. (Imitation and Inspiration, Japanese influence on Dutch Art, ed. Stefan van Raay, Amsterdam, 1989, pp.47-49). The lacquerers were inspired by motifs on Chinese and Japanese porcelain and by European prints. Another important source was John Stalker and George Parker's Treatise on Japanning and Varnishing, published in 1688, which contained several recipes for black and gold decoration and numerous engravings with patterns to illustrate the arts of the Orient. Another, slightly earlier source was J. Nieuhof's Het Gezantschap der Neêrlandse Ost-Indische Compagnie aan den grooten Tartarische Cham, den tegenwoordigen Keizer van China, etc, published in Amsterdam in 1665, which described the first Dutch mission to the Chinese Emperor in 1655-1657.
In Germany the most famous name in 18th century japanning was Gerard Dagley (1657-1715), who was born into a japanning family in Spa. Having worked for a while in Paris, he was appointed court craftsman in Berlin in 1687. The golden decoration of mountain landscapes and pagoda's on this cabinet relates to the lacquer decoration on a harpsicord case by Dagley in Schloß Charlottenburg. (J. Hardy, 'Lacquerwork in Asia and Beyond', Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia (11), London, 1981, pp.159-165)

See illustration