Japanese Lacquered Maki-e Fubako in Kodaiji Style

A rare Japanese lacquered wood fubako decorated Kodaiji maki-e style circa early 17th century the beginning of the Edo period, possibly early toward the end of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. The rectangular, long and slim box features a deep lipped lid with slightly rounded corners, a conforming lower box with two bronze medallion rings with tasseled silk ties. The decorative style of the surface was in a typical style called "Kodaiji style" originated in the 16th century during Momoyama period from the Kodaiji, a Zen Buddhism temple located in Kyoto. The characteristics of this style include the following: a pure black background on which various shades and thickness of shimmering gold maki-e were applied, creating a beguiling contrast. The imagined designs tend to be simple but elegant with emphasis on geometrical form, with the favorite motifs being the floral pattern of the fall. The technique used was revolutionary for the time with nashiji being used for part of the design instead of as background. This is called e-nashiji. Often there are outlines of the floral that was executed with dense gold powder. This box displays all the above features. Its black background has faded into a brown over the centuries. The Tri-Star shaped leaves with small flowers permeated the overall design. Nashiji of different shades of color and density was used to fill in the space of the leaves outlined with even denser nashiji. There are also curved lines in between representing the water, that was created in hiramaki-e (low relief maki-e). The repetitive design is rather simple, and the motif of the paired leaves continues to the side of the box and overlaps with the under covered box, which shows a much more vibrant colors due to the shield from the light. The two bronze medallions appear to be original with a design that matches the shape of the leaf. The trim was finished in dense nashiji instead of fundame. The interior and the base were left unadorned in black. There is an expected sun fading along contour of the lid. The box comes with a storage tomobako with some ink inscription underneath, but we are not sure if this is original.
This fubako shows significant age and patina. The oxidation has caused significant browning overall. Although there are no obvious losses, we do observe scattered chips and nicks and crack and wrinkle lines on the lacquer, some of which are evident in the detail photos. One end of the lid shows a noticeable crack through that was repaired.