BY CHARLES-JEAN-BAPTISTE CLERIN (FL. 1732-1756), MARKED, PARIS, 1750/1751, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JULIEN BERTHE 1750-1756

The technique of creating lacquer originated in Japan over 6000 years ago and it was a slow and demanding process which required great skill. Some of the finest lacquer had up to thirty separate layers and was confined to painted or raised surfaces of gold on a black or red ground. This type was retained by the Japanese for their own use and examples considered to be inferior in quality were brought to Europe in the 1730s by the Dutch. Japanese lacquer became extremely fashionable at the French Court as early as in the 1730s when large panels were used to decorate items of furniture. These larger panels were cut into smaller sections to fit the dimensions required for use with snuff-boxes and so many scenes on snuff-boxes can appear to be slightly dis-jointed. Parisian craftsmen copied the Japanese technique for use on works of art made locally and sometimes, as is the case with the present box, over-decorated original Japanese panels. These artists must have had access to Japanese originals in the collections of the very few extremely wealthy Parisians able to afford such rare and exotic items.
In Japanese lacquer work nashiji is frequently employed as the background of a pattern and the technique flourished during the Tokugawa period (1603-1867). Gold or silver flakes called nashiji-ko are sprinkled onto the surface of the object onto which lacquer has been applied. Nashiji lacquer is then applied and burnished with charcoal, so that the gold or silver can be seen through the lacquer. The name nashiji is thought to have originated from the resemblance that the lacquer bears to the skin of a Japanese pear, nashi.