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Small Box

A work made of lacquer with gold and inlay.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of lacquer with gold and inlay.

Date:

17th century

Artist:

Artist unknown
Japanese

About this artwork

The proliferation of foreign faces in Edo-era prints has its roots in the appearance of Portuguese and Spanish “Southern Barbarians” in Japan in the mid-16th century and Dutch and English “Red-Hairs” in the early 17th. The “Southern Barbarian” figures decorating this box are shown wearing Portuguese fashions—tight-fitting jackets and ballooning trousers festooned with ruffles—which are depicted within the conventions of Japanese art. Fierce eyes and exaggerated noses complete the ensemble of alien attributes, while the mastiff pictured with the figures—more comic than threatening—reflects the new large dog breeds introduced to Japan from Europe.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Title

Small Box

Place

Japan (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1601–1700

Medium

Lacquer with gold and inlay

Credit Line

Nickerson Fund

Reference Number

1965.399

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/23476/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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