... To ‘Home-made’

Despite the overall East Asian ‘feeling’ of this box, the architectural motifs are noticeably European. For instance, by looking at this building resembling a royal palace, one can find similarities with the Zwinger Gate (fig. 5) in Dresden, the city where this box was made! Why then is such an Asian-inspired object showing localized decorations from its place of production?

Throughout the 17th century, European craftsmen gradually attempted to imitate the East Asian resin used to produce lacquer, which could not be imported as raw material due to the length of the journey. In 1720 a technique for lacquering was developed in Italy, and through the circulation of manuals on the subject the technique spreaded across Europe. This European version of lacquer became known as japanningSee Kisluk-Grosheid, Danielle O. (1986). “A Japanned cabinet in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” Metropolitan Museum Journal 19/20.. Although they never reached the quality of the Asian lacquer, every court had artisans perfecting their technique of lacquering used to produce pieces of furniture and smaller items, such as this toilet box, that would suit the exuberant and flashy Rococo taste characteristic of that period. In France, the Martin family of artisans became particularly famous, and in Austria and Germany various ateliers also adapted the design and shapes of lacquerware to local taste (fig. 6) . In Dresden, for instance, Johann Martin Heinrici produced beautiful toilet boxes (see fig. 7). See the Getty Conservation Institute blog.

If lacquer was indeed imitated in Europe at the time when this box was made, this certainly happened thanks to extensive research that was carried out in various courts across Europe. In particular, under the rule of Augustus II The Strong (1670-1733), who was himself a passionate collector of Asian porcelain ware and other objects at that time considered ‘exotic’ , an actual ‘Asia-mania’ developed in Dresden. A strikingly productive domestic industry in porcelain was created there, where Heinrici, the maker of this box, was trained as an artist. Interestingly, in the private collection of Augustus II - which is still preserved at the Grünes Gewölbe (in Dresden) - we can find a box (fig. 8) that may have directly inspired Heinrici a few decades later, as the buildings on the lid may suggest.

European-made lacquerwares have their own distinctive character, often expressing the Rococo taste of the time, and aesthetic and use of materials that show how European craftsmen integrated and adapted already popular Asian techniques and styles, creating a unique and intertwined style. These stories of exchange, absorption and domestication are embodied in this toilet box, which bears witness to the transition of the ‘foreign-made’ Asian lacquer box to the ‘home-made’ European toilet box. The trend of producing such adapted pieces remained popular well into the 20th century, when Cartier was still finding inspiration in these earlier precious boxes, as we can see from this fine box made of coral and lacquer from 1925. (fig. 9).

The history of lacquer reveals technological and commercial exchanges, interweaving Asian and European artisans, merchants, missionaries, and elites. But what purpose did these boxes serve in the first place? Who collected them? Move to our next step if you want to find out!