Japanese Lacquerware Small Box

Description

Japanese lacquered small trinket or bento box.  Approximately 4 x 5 inches. Finish is the dark red brown frequently seen in Japanese artifacts, with a black interior lacquer.  There are 5 pen point flaws in the lacquer around the box where the black under coat shows through and one a bit larger along the bottom of body.  The high gloss on the box made photographs of the flower petals wash out and the detail in the leaves cannot be seen well. The stems and bottom of the flower as well as flower details are painted in gold.  The flower petals are white with gray shading.  Label on the bottom shows that this item was imported for Cost Plus Inc and made in Japan. Since this label is Cost Plus Inc and not Cost Plus World Market it would have been imported before the change in the 1990's. In researching the origin of this type of box I was interested to learn that although traditional lacquerware was made from wood when plastics came into play midcentury most lacquerware is now made from plastic and then painted with specialized paint guns and patterns are screen printed.