Jewellery box - Wood - 誠美漆器/荒城の月/Music Box

Please read carefully before purchasing.
Shipping method — The lot will be carefully packaged and sent by DHL or FedEx or EMS depend on the situation. It takes about 3 weeks to receive normally. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Sometimes Customs or delivery company in your country contact you for Customs clearance via phone or email. Please make sure that you could answer the phone. If you don't, the parcel will return to me and it cost more double shipping fee for reshipping. I appreciate your cooperation.

Item Description
A beautiful Japanese lacquerware jewelry box with built-in music box mechanism, finished in deep gloss black urushi lacquer and adorned with exquisite gold maki-e decoration in the design known as "Shin-Ran" (New Orchid). The graceful orchid motif — sweeping golden leaves and blossoms rendered in lustrous maki-e gold — is a timeless symbol of refinement, nobility, and enduring beauty in Japanese decorative arts.
Upon opening the lid, the music box plays "Kojo no Tsuki" (荒城の月, "The Moon over the Ruined Castle"), one of Japan's most beloved and iconic melodies. Composed by Rentaro Taki in 1901 during the Meiji period, this hauntingly beautiful piece evokes a profound sense of nostalgia and the transience of earthly glory — making it a deeply poetic accompaniment to this elegant lacquered treasure box.
The interior is lined in rich crimson velvet, fitted with a vanity mirror in the lid and thoughtfully organized with compartments and ring rolls for jewelry storage. The box rests on four small feet, lending it a dignified and refined presence. The original presentation box is included.
Lacquerware — known in Japanese as "shikki," and so synonymous with Japan that the English word "japan" once meant lacquerware itself — represents one of Japan's highest craft traditions, refined over many centuries. A piece such as this, uniting the art of maki-e gold decoration with a musical mechanism, embodies the Japanese aesthetic ideal of beauty and function as one.

My message / 私のメッセージ
Thank you so much for taking a look at my items. I run a recycle shop in Japan and joined Catawiki because I want to share wonderful items filled with Japanese craftsmanship and history with the world. If you have any questions about the item, please feel free to message me at any time. With gratitude to everyone — ARIGATO.

Please read carefully before purchasing.
Shipping method — The lot will be carefully packaged and sent by DHL or FedEx or EMS depend on the situation. It takes about 3 weeks to receive normally. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Sometimes Customs or delivery company in your country contact you for Customs clearance via phone or email. Please make sure that you could answer the phone. If you don't, the parcel will return to me and it cost more double shipping fee for reshipping. I appreciate your cooperation.

Size
Height: 10 cm
Width: 21 cm
Depth: 10.5 cm

Weight
777 g

Condition
In good overall condition with small signs of ageing; there is one fine hairline scratch visible on the gold maki-e surface of the lid upon close inspection.

Artist Profile
This jewelry box exemplifies the Japanese maki-e lacquerware tradition, featuring the "Shin-Ran" (New Orchid) decorative design. Maki-e — the technique of dusting gold or silver powder onto wet lacquer to form ornate patterns — is considered one of the pinnacle achievements of Japanese decorative art, with a history spanning over a thousand years. The orchid motif has long been prized in East Asian artistic traditions as a symbol of elegance, virtue, and refinement. The combination of a musical mechanism with fine lacquerwork reflects the Japanese craft philosophy of uniting beauty with function in everyday objects.