Decanter Set with Birds and Flowers in Makie and Mother-of-Pearl Inlay; The Decanters

This is a piece of so-called Nanban lacquerware, made to order for European clients. There are several other extant square decanters, but this is the only surviving set of six. They have been preserved in extremely good condition, thanks to storage in this custom-made chest, although the exterior of the box has undergone considerable restoration work in Europe. The inside is divided into six compartments separated by coniferous wood panels lined with Japanese paper with stylized cloud patterns. Those protect the makie design from chafing when the decanters are taken in and out. Each face of the decanters is decorated with various flower and bird motifs in a combination of enashiji (pictorial pear-skin ground) and inlaid mother-of-pearl, bordered by gold Nanban scrolls in hiramakie (flat sprinkled meral) on a black lacquer ground.
According to scholars of trading records, the 1618-diary of the head of the British Trading Mission in Hirado states that a single box containing several bottles was packaged for transport, whilst the Dutch East India Company documents note that a partitioned box containing several bottles, which could not be sold in Holland, was sent from the Batavia government office to the Hirado Trading House in 1634. However, three years later, in 1637, an order was placed for thirty to forty similar items destined for Indian Coromandel, indicating that this type product was extremely popular in India in the early seventeenth century.
One of the decanter lids is missing, whilst another cannot be removed. The lids come in the form of copper screw; the Japanese first learned the technique of making these lids from tail valves on muskets brought to the country by the Portuguese. Although the screw lids on these pieces are unsophisticated, they represent the most advanced technology of their day.