Japanese Papier Mache Lacquer Box with Interior Scenes italian Bisque with graphic black details

Bisque with graphic black details as well as a faint orange stain on its beak and webbed feet

but it was not until I began photographing him that I realized his legs

It feels simultaneously very old and quite modern

Bottom half is 5 1/2" tall

Something of a time capsule

Japanese Papier Mache Lacquer Box with Interior Scenes italian Bisque with graphic black detailsI am fairly certain this lovely small Japanese lacquer on papier mache box dates to Meiji period, which extended from 1868 to 1912. It features wonderfully detailed depictions of interior scenes, including figures in beautifully decorated kimonos sitting and eating, all rendered in gold, white and black against red. I just love the specificity of the imagery, down to the facial expressions of each figure, and the overall effect it creates of glimpsing