A Nanban Inrō

Rare Namban lacquered wood inrō . The box, prismatic in shape and oval in section, comprises four overlapping compartments or dan that fit together, two of them divided in two, and closed with a similarly shaped lid. 

Both the inside and outside of the inrō is coated with dark brown to black lacquer, a colour that was obtained by adding coal powder or iron pigment to the urushi – the purified sap of the tree Rhus vernicifera. On this black ground, the master craftsman applied the maki-e with sprinkled gold forming the design, further enriched by the application of mother-of-pearl tesserae or raden, of bluish-green tint known as aogai.

As with other Namban objects, in this case intended solely for domestic consumption and mirroring the allure for the European newcomers, known as the ‘Barbarians of the South’, or nanban-jin, this precious and rare inrō shows us the somewhat caricatured and stereotypical depiction of the Portuguese in their typical costume towards the end of the sixteenth-century: doublets with ruff collars, wide pantaloons known as bombachas, capes (ferragoulos) and brim hats of various types.

On one side of the inrō we may see three figures, most likely clergymen, one of which with his head bowed and hidden by his hat; on the other side there are two figures, probably laymen, engaging in conversation.

The present piece is not only rare but of great iconographic interest, of which we know only two matching examples, one from the collection of the Musée National des Arts Asiatiques – Guimet, in Paris.