28 : Letter box with marquetry

Also presented here is yosegi-zaiku (marquetry), celebrated within the tradition of Sunpu lacquerware. Although analogous techniques are found in Spain, in Japan sophisticated methods developed contemporaneously, and during the samurai era Shizuoka was widely recognized as a production center. Finished pieces were shipped from Shizuoka to Nagasaki and exported abroad via Dejima. Tragically, urban fires and wartime air raids disrupted the craft in Shizuoka, and few works now survive locally. Many extant examples have been documented in collections overseas; the piece on display here is a repatriated work from London.

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