Locally Made, Globally Sourced
Let’s now take a closer look at this composition of colors and surfaces that Heinrici has used to depict the rocks, waves, plants, and architectural structures of this box. Although we know that this toilet box survives as an excellent example of European-made lacquerware, held as a precious possession by a European aristocratic woman, we may wonder whether it was perceived as simply a European piece of craftsmanship or as a marker of wider, global connections? What Europeans referred to as the ‘Orient’ can be perceived through the materials selected for making this box. While the lacquer of this box was a European version of the ‘original’ material produced in East Asia, mother-of-pearl, copper, brass, and rayskin were transported through maritime routes encompassing almost the entire globe.
Despite the very ancient origins of the art of lacquering, it seems that the technique itself of inlaying lacquerwares with metals and woods, in Europe called laque burgauté, was first developed in China around the Song period (960-1279). Soon after, it spread to Japan and Korea, where it was adapted and further elaborated [1], also through mediation of the European travellers. But let’s now look at these inlays in more detail…