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Lot Essay
This pair of Japanese lacquer cabinets-on-stand exemplify the luxury goods imported into Europe during the 17th century by the Dutch East India Company. Coveted for its refined decoration and polished surfaces, lacquer works of art were prized by monarchs and cultural elites across Europe who often paired them with contemporary stands executed in the latest taste. Importing a pair of pendant lacquer cabinets indicates a commission of some significance and with their original stands reflecting the advent of the rococo style and beautifully preserved lacquer panels, this pair of cabinets is a rare survival.
Lacquerware appears in the collections of some European monarchs prior to the 17th century and was traded by individual missions, such as ‘divers objets façons Inde’, listed in 1560 in the inventory of the collection of François I (A. Forray-Carlier, ‘Les Secrets de la Lacque Française’, Paris, 2014, p. 12).
Works of art from Japan, including lacquer coffers, cabinets and other smaller items, were from 1637 exclusively exported by the VOC (Dutch East India Company) to Amsterdam, from where they would be transferred to Paris, London and other European centres. A superb example of these early shipments is Cardinal de Mazarin’s celebrated lacquer coffer, purchased in 1658, recently acquired by the Rijksmuseum (AK-RAK-2013-3-1). Japanese lacquer cabinets such as the present model, with two doors and pictorial decoration with a black ground, were executed, often in Kyoto, from the mid-17th Century. Mazarin’s 1661 inventory lists sixty Japanese lacquer coffers or cabinets, largely decorated with landscapes and figures; this type of decoration appears to have remained en vogue throughout the remainder of the 17th Century (T. Wolvesperges, ‘Le Meuble en Laque aux XVIIIe Siècle’, Paris, 2000, p. 36). Intricate carved giltwood stands, designed to harmonise with the decoration of palace interiors, were conceived for these cabinets in the latter part of the reign of Louis XIV and during the Régence. Some of these rare ensembles, including the present pair of cabinets-on-stand, have remained intact such as the Louis XIV example from the collection of Antoine-Rene Voyer d’Argenson, marquis de Palmy (d. 1787), now at the Bibliothèque National, Paris (Louis XIV, Fastes et Decors, exh. cat. Paris, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, 1960, p. 14, no. 62).
Lacquerware appears in the collections of some European monarchs prior to the 17th century and was traded by individual missions, such as ‘divers objets façons Inde’, listed in 1560 in the inventory of the collection of François I (A. Forray-Carlier, ‘Les Secrets de la Lacque Française’, Paris, 2014, p. 12).
Works of art from Japan, including lacquer coffers, cabinets and other smaller items, were from 1637 exclusively exported by the VOC (Dutch East India Company) to Amsterdam, from where they would be transferred to Paris, London and other European centres. A superb example of these early shipments is Cardinal de Mazarin’s celebrated lacquer coffer, purchased in 1658, recently acquired by the Rijksmuseum (AK-RAK-2013-3-1). Japanese lacquer cabinets such as the present model, with two doors and pictorial decoration with a black ground, were executed, often in Kyoto, from the mid-17th Century. Mazarin’s 1661 inventory lists sixty Japanese lacquer coffers or cabinets, largely decorated with landscapes and figures; this type of decoration appears to have remained en vogue throughout the remainder of the 17th Century (T. Wolvesperges, ‘Le Meuble en Laque aux XVIIIe Siècle’, Paris, 2000, p. 36). Intricate carved giltwood stands, designed to harmonise with the decoration of palace interiors, were conceived for these cabinets in the latter part of the reign of Louis XIV and during the Régence. Some of these rare ensembles, including the present pair of cabinets-on-stand, have remained intact such as the Louis XIV example from the collection of Antoine-Rene Voyer d’Argenson, marquis de Palmy (d. 1787), now at the Bibliothèque National, Paris (Louis XIV, Fastes et Decors, exh. cat. Paris, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, 1960, p. 14, no. 62).