39. A MAGNIFICENT NANBAN EXPORT LACQUER CABINET AND CHEST OF DRAWERS Momoyama period (1573-1615), 16th/17th century, and later The rectangular cabinet with a drop-front hinged door opening to reveal nine shallow drawers and a central, recessed drawer of double height with architectural columns and an arch-shaped lock plate, the drawers fitted with chrysanthemum-blossom drawer pulls, the cabinet lacquered black and decorated in two shades of gold and silver lacquer, gold nashiji, hirame, and inlays of mother-of-pearl, the front with a pair of long-tailed birds among maples, paulownia, bellflowers, and bamboo by a woven fence, the top with pavilions and a bridge over a stream with birds in flight among trailing wisteria, maples, and mandarin trees, the sides and back with a continuation of the birds and flowering trees design and the back decorated with bush clover, each panel framed by geometric borders punctuated by chrysanthemum blossoms, the hardware chiseled with floral scroll on a stippled ground, the interiors lacquered black, with two keys; the supporting chest of drawers painted in gold and inlaid with mother-of-pearl with and overall design of bush clover and ivy The cabinet : 45 x 62,5 x 36cm; the chest of drawers : 83 x 64,2 x 37,5cm (2). Crafted in Kyoto's lacquer workshops alongside quite different wares intended for elite Japanese clients, coffers and cabinets decorated in gold hiramaki-e and shell were among the earliest Japanese artefacts to reach Asian and European markets, starting two or three decades after the first landfall by Portuguese adventurers in the mid-sixteenth century. Celebrated today for their lavish, innovative technique and dense ornamentation inspired in part by wares from other parts of Asia, such pieces brought the Japanese genius for design to global attention and ensured that the word 'Japan' would be synonymous with 'lacquer' down to the present day. For a discussion of fall-front cabinets of this type, along with comparative examples, see Oliver Impey and Christian Jörg, Japanese Export Lacquer 1580-1850, Amsterdam, Hotei Publishing, 2005, pp.122-124.