The box shaped as a war drum, with a realistic design, the lacquer imitates the wood veins. The sides of the drum decorated with dragon and mitsudomoe pattern. The cover is adorned with a rooster and a hen. The inside of both box and cover is in nashiji lacquer. The depiction is the rooster and the hen on a war drum is very auspicious, it symbolizes the return of the peace, a calm and prosperous era. The war drum is neglected, the rooster and his family use it as a shelter.

The European upper classes and especially French aristocracy, were mad on Japanese lacquers and collected them since the 17th century. We can list the collections of Marie of Medicis, Gaston of France, or the collection of the empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and the collection of Queen Marie Antoinette her daughter.

Bibliography

Les Laques du Japon, Collections de Marie-Antoinette. Château de Versailles, 15 octobre 2001 au 16 janvier 2002, n°58, p. 190-191 (a box with the same iconography)