Asian Boxes & Lacquerware

Cherry-blossom season in Japan, and a jubako is packed tier by tier. Antique boxes and lacquerware come from India, Tibet, Nepal, China, Japan, Burma and North and Central Africa. Indian tikka boxes, round or square, in brass and silver, held the powders of the forehead mark; Tibetan gao, prayer boxes of silver and copper, often set with turquoise, carried a protective image or relic close to the body. Japanese lacquer jubako stacked food for those picnics, and fubako held letters; Burmese lacquer and Chinese scroll boxes with sliding lids show other traditions of finish.

Kuba boxes from the Congo, carved with interlace, held camwood powder; Tuareg and Moorish leather and camel-bone boxes come from Mauritania and Morocco; Dogon and Baule boxes add carved wood. Lacquer, brass, leather and silver bring depth and sheen at small scale. A stack of boxes on a bedside table, a single gao on a walnut shelf. Order, in small and handsome portions.