Page 360 - Chinese and japanese porcelain silk and lacquer Canepa

Fig. 4.1.1.2.6 Namban cabinet (ventó)
Momoyama/early Edo period, c.1600–1630 Fig. 4.1.1.2.7 Namban bed
Height: 34cm; width: 30cm; depth: 45.5cm Momoyama/early Edo period, c.1600–1650
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem Dimensions: 157cm x 195cm x 122cm
(inv. no. OMII-3057) Private Collection, Portugal

designs of flowering and fruiting plants, animals and/or birds in makie and mother- 171 For images and a discussion on this type of cabinet, members of the elites and clergy living in the Philippines and New Spain in the early
of-pearl inlay, sometimes within large cartouches (usually of ovoid or lozenge forms) see Vinhais and Welsh, 2008/1, pp. 212–215, no. 20. seventeenth century. In 1615, for example, Martin de la Cueva, regidor in Manila,
172 This type of cabinet was recorded in the Hōyaku
reserved on geometric patterns. Cabinets were also made of deep rectangular form Nippo jisho (Modern Japanese Translation of a sent to his sister Doña Maria de la Cueva in Úbeda, a consignment of 2 Japanese
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with a door hinged at the side, fitted with drawers on the interior and with a metal Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary), dating to about escritoires. Three years later, Don Alonso Fajardo, Governor of the Philippines
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1603, with the Japanese term ventó or bentó
carrying handle on top, which were called by the Portuguese ventó or bentó because (from bento). For a discussion and examples of between 1618 and 1624, sent several escritories, writing desks and beds from Japan to
these cabinets, see Vinhais and Welsh, 2008/1,
it had similar features to the Japanese bento box, which were usually decorated on pp. 188–199, nos. 15 and 16. Seville. That same year, in 1618, the Count of Santiago sent from New Spain to his
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the exterior with large lozenge or lobed-shaped cartouches of flowering plants and 173 For examples of this type, see Sakai City Museum, wife who lived in Spain, a consignment that included 2 folding screens, 2 writing desks
Namban-Shikki – Cultural Exchange between
birds reserved on geometric grounds (Fig. 4.1.1.2.6). From the beginning of the East and West through Lacquer Craft, exhibition from Japan, and 1 chest from Japan, as well as several pieces of woven and raw silks
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catalogue, Osaka, 1983, p. 48, no. 47; and Gifu City
seventeenth century such cabinets (ventó), like the coffers discussed above, were also History Museum, 2003, p. 81, no. IV–17. from China. It was also that year, that the Marchioness of Guadalcázar, vicereine of
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decorated with bird and/or animal scenes framed within cartouches reserved on panels 174 An example is discussed and illustrated in Vinhais New Spain, sent to her sister in Madrid a consignment that included an escritoire and a
and Welsh, 2008/1, pp. 194–199, no. 16.
of the ‘sprinkle denticle’ technique, or were covered entirely in this technique, which 175 Compare, for instance, an Indo-Portuguese chest from Japan, and several little boxes. In 1619, the Jesuit Martin de Orujas from
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lacquered wood writing box dating to the sixteenth
imitates ray skin. Namban chests of rectangular shape with flat lids hinged to open century illustrated in Pedro de Moura Carvalho, New Spain sent 3 escritoires from Japan (alongside 9 pieces of satin) as a gift to Father
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upwards, fitted with side metal carrying handles, were made after Indo-Portuguese ‘A group of early lacquered furniture for the Jacobo Tirino in Antwerp. The mention of beds from Japan sent as gifts in 1618 by
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Portuguese market and its probable origin in the
writing chests or boxes made in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. These Bay of Bengal and Coromandel Coast’, in Calouste Governor Alfonso Fajardo from the Philippines to Seville is of particular interest to
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Gulbenkian Museum, The World of Lacquer, 2000
chests, made in both small and large size, were typically fitted with one, two or four Years of History, exhibition catalogue, Lisbon, 2001, this study. We learn from Jesuit textual sources that folding beds were brought to Japan
drawers at the base of the front side. Some of them were made with cushion-shaped p. 148, no. 72. Two further examples are published at least as early as 1563. In a letter written by Father Luís Fróis at the port of Hirado
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in Bernardo Ferrão, Mobiliário Português. Dos
lids and no drawers. All the easily portable cabinets and chests of relatively small size Primórdios ao Maneirismo, Índia e Japão, vol. III, in November of that year, he states that ‘Approximately one month after we had been
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Oporto, 1990, p. 161, nos. 420–421. For an example
discussed above were most probably used by the Portuguese to hold documents, jewels dating to the seventeenth century, formerly in the in this port Dom Bartolomeu [the recently converted Omura Sumitada] arrived to see
or other small objects of value. António Bocarro, writing in 1635, describes the lacquer convent of S. José in Évora, see Mendes Pinto, 1985, 179 AGI, Contratación, 1831, pp. 131–132. Mentioned in the priest and the Portuguese. We immediately went with the captain to visit him and
Gasch-Tomás, 2012, p. 63.
p. 50, no. 28.
goods taken from Japan to Goa as ‘much giltwork, which comes from Japan and which 176 For a discussion and an example of a Namban chest, 180 AGI, Contratación, 1849, pp. 204–208. Mentioned in gave him some seahorse beads I had brought from India with a holy bead set in gold,
see Vinhais and Welsh, 2008/1, pp. 242–245, no. 27. Gasch-Tomás, 2012, p. 56.
is much better than that from China … and many small items like circular boxes and 177 An example in a private collection in Portugal is 181 AGI, Contratación, 1852A, pp. 505–508. Mentioned which he greatly appreciated and placed round his neck … Dom Pedro [Captain-
in Gasch-Tomás, 2012, p. 57.
published in Impey and Jörg, 2005, p. 144, no. 301.
writing cabinets of chorão [lacquer], all extremely fine’. 178 António Bocarro, Livro das Plantas e de todas as 182 AGI, Contratación, 1847, pp. 112–117. Mentioned in General Dom Péro da Guerra] had given us a present that we took to him because for
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Spanish written sources suggest that a number of lacquer cabinets, described fortalezas, cidades e povoados do estado da Índia Gasch-Tomás, 2012, p. 73. them it is a new thing, we went to his house, brother João Fernadez and myself and
Oriental, 1635, ms B.P.A.D, Évora – cod. CXV/2–1. 183 AGI, Contratación, 1853, pp. 181–185. Mentioned in
as escritoires and/or writing desks, were sent to Spain as gifts from male and female Cited in Mendes Pinto, 1990, p. 32. Gasch-Tomás, 2012, p. 66. he thanked us very much for what we took which was a gold folding bed and a silk
358 Silk, Porcelain and Lacquer Trade in Japanese Lacquer 359