Nanban cabinet

Cabinet decorated in nanban style

Japanese, late 16th or early 17th century
Urushi lacquer with inlaid shell on wood

For April, we have chosen this drop-front cabinet decorated in Japanese lacquer, or urushi. It returned from conservation in February in time to be displayed as one of the highlights of the Japanese Room this year. It is one of the oldest Japanese lacquerwares in the collection, made either in the late 16th or early 17th century. It is decorated in a style known as nanban, or ‘southern barbarian’ style. Our object of the month for December 2021, a small coffer, was also decorated in the nanban style. Nanban lacquerwares were made for export to the European market, mostly for the Portuguese. Portuguese traders arrived in Japan around 1542 – 1543, and trade flourished up until 1639, when the ruler, the shogun, banned all Portuguese from entering the country. The Portuguese set up trade in Nagasaki and the Jesuit priest Francis Xavier set up a Christian mission in 1549. It was the promotion of Christianity which eventually led to the Portuguese expulsion from Japan, as the shogun considered it a threat to his authority.

Nanban was a term used to describe all things related to foreigners, including items made for export and items decorated with foreigner-inspired designs. Most Japanese people of the Momoyama (1568 – 1600) and Edo (1603 – 1868) periods did not have the chance to meet a foreigner. Very rarely, they may have seen a trader in Nagasaki or an envoy on its way to the capital to meet with the shogun. The idea of ‘foreigners’ captured people’s imagination and had a large influence on art of the period. Depictions of foreigners emphasised their exotic appearance and clothes, for example the hats and large trousers worn by Europeans.

Foreign Merchants in Japanese Trade Port, painted paper screen, early 19th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 57.98

Items decorated with Japanese lacquer in the nanban style were usually in forms that would appeal to and be useable by Europeans. Our object of the month is in the form of a drop-front cabinet with eight drawers of various sizes. The metal lock plate is not original but would have been added at some point not long after it was made, perhaps by its European owner. The style of this cabinet was known as escritorio or ‘desk’ in Spanish, as the drop-front formed a writing surface when opened.

Cabinet of drawers with birds, flowers, and court carriage, lacquered wood with gold and silver hiramaki-e and mother-of-pearl inlay, late 16th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1989.17a-l

The cabinet, like most other nanban lacquerwares, is covered with a thick layer of coarse black lacquer. Japanese urushi lacquer is made from the sap of a tree which is cultivated in Japan. The cabinet is richly decorated with inlaid shell and painted gold lacquer. The front lid of the cabinet has a design of deer standing between a maple tree and a flowering plant often depicted on nanban lacquerwares which may be Chinese bellflower. Some of the leaves and flowers are formed from pieces of cut shell, whilst the rest are painted on in gold lacquer. The edges of the front, back, and sides of the cabinet have decorative borders, inspired by the iron bands that would usually be added to strengthen European cabinets and chests. This kind of decoration is another typical feature of nanban lacquerwares. The inner drawers are decorated in a pattern of inlaid shell and gold lacquer. The reverse of the cabinet is lightly decorated as it would have been less visible when the cabinet was placed against a wall in a European home. Some nanban lacquerwares have no decoration on the back at all. The fact that the back of this cabinet was decorated with geometric borders and leaves with inlaid shell indicates that particular time and care was taken to make it. Its quality and the detail of the decoration indicates that it may have been a particularly expensive order.

Although this cabinet is finely decorated and would have been amongst some of the highest quality nanban lacquerwares, they were not produced to the same standard as the most luxurious lacquerwares for the domestic market. Rather than a carefully dried and treated wooden base covered in many thin layers of lacquer to prevent future damage and warping, nanban lacquerwares were produced more quickly with just one thick layer of lacquer. As a result, this cabinet was fragile and deteriorating before it was conserved. Areas of lacquer and inlaid shell were lifting and flaking off, which meant that it was too fragile to handle and display. Conservator Tristram Bainbridge, who specialises in Asian lacquer, carefully cleaned the cabinet and strengthened the flaking areas. The original colour of the cabinet has been altered by an old coating of European varnish which has now yellowed. A large amount of dark surface dirt was removed, but the yellow varnish was left on the surface, as removing it could cause further damage to the decoration. The cabinet is now stable enough to display it in the Japanese Room for the first time in many years. It can be viewed whilst we are open this season, on Wednesdays to Sundays until the end of October. 

Area of damage on the nanban cabinet before conservation.

The top of the nanban cabinet after conservation.

This object is just one of the many objects that form part of Denys Eyre Bower’s five impressive collections which include Ancient Egyptian, Japanese, Buddhist, Stuart and Jacobite, and Books. For more information on these objects, review our Object of the Month series, visit the Historic House and Collections or contact our Curator, Naomi Collick by email or by calling 01892 870347.