HISTORY OF THE MAZARIN CHEST

Design elements on the Mazarin Chest

Tale of Genji

To decorate the Mazarin Chest and other examples of export lacquer with scenes from the Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari) seems incongruous, since contemporary Westerners would have had little or no knowledge of this novel. Yet the front long side and one of the short sides of the chest are indeed decorated with scenes from Genji. The Tale of Genji is the supreme masterpiece of Japanese prose written in the early eleventh century by a court lady, Murasaki Shikibu. This massive work is divided into fifty-four chapters and its action, based around court life, spans almost three-quarters of a century. It follows the life and loves of Prince Genji and, after his death, the novel continues with the story of his son, Yugiri, and Kaoru, who passes as Genji's son.

The front panel of the Mazarin Chest depicts not a single chapter from the Tale of Genji but a number of different scenes from various chapters. This includes a reference to chapter 28, Nowaki (The Typhoon) in the bottom left corner, with women and young girls picking flowers after the storm. The lower right-hand side shows part of chapter 15, Yomogyu (The Wormwood Patch), in which Prince Genji visits Suetsumuhana, a long-neglected love, accompanied by Koremitsu, Genji's servant and confident holding an umbrella. Above and slightly to the left are the dragon and phoenix boats from chapter 24, Kocho (Butterflies).

Since contemporary convention dictated that explicit narrative be avoided in lacquer decoration, Genji lacquer for the domestic market rarely included figures. Instead the depiction of a few key elements from a particular chapter or event were sufficient to trigger the necessary association. The left-hand side of the Mazarin Chest is one such rare example in export lacquer. Without reference to any figures, it unmistakably alludes to chapter 14, Miotsukushi (The Pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi) and Genji's journey to the Sumiyoshi Shrine.

The Tale of the Soga brothers

The right-hand side of the Mazarin Chest is decorated with a scene from another literary work, the Tale of the Soga Brothers (Soga Monogatari), a tale of filial piety and revenge. Although based on real twelfth-century historical characters, the earliest written form of the story is thought to date from the first half of the fourteenth century.

The Tale of the Soga Brothers relates how Kudo Suketsune, angry at being deprived of his inheritance by his uncle Ito Sukechika, has Sukechika's son murdered in 1175. The murdered man, Kozu Saburo Sukemichi, had two young sons, Juro Sukenari and Goro Tokimune, who grew up vowing to avenge their father's death. Since their widowed mother remarried, the two sons are known as the Soga brothers, after the name of their stepfather.

The brothers had to wait eighteen years to take their revenge on Suketsune when, in 1193, a hunting party near Mount Fuji provided a perfect opportunity to ambush and kill him. During the attack Juro, one of the brothers, was also killed, while Goro was captured. Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147-99), the military ruler at the time, was so impressed by Goro's filial duty that he wanted to pardon him. Suketsune's son, however, demanded his execution. The boar-hunt depicted on the side of the Mazarin Chest alludes to the revenge of the Soga brothers on their father's murderer.

Other design elements on the Mazarin Chest

The interior and exterior of the lid of the Mazarin Chest are decorated with scenes of palaces, architectural complexes and landscapes. These are framed by distinctive cartouches formed by pairs of confronting phoenixes on the exterior and confronting dragons on the interior. Many different types of cartouche, particularly those of ogival form, are found on export lacquer. Such cartouches, traditionally unknown in Japan, were first found in Japanese art on export lacquer of the late sixteenth century. Although ogival cartouches are also found in earlier Islamic and Indian art, their use in Japan probably derived from Chinese sources.

The extensive use of decorative borders framing the main areas of decoration is another feature of export lacquer that runs contrary to the conventions and aesthetics of Japanese art. The borders generally occur in combinations of floral scrolls with geometric bands, such as the key fret and chequered pattern on the Mazarin Chest. This practice derived from Chinese lacquerwork of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Compared to the other surfaces of the Mazarin Chest, the back is much more sparsely and simply decorated with a tiger among bamboo. This subject is frequently encountered in Japanese painting of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Art Historical Research, 2005/2006 update

In May 2005, Julia Hutt travelled to Osaka, Kobe and Tokyo as part of her ongoing research into the iconography of the Mazarin Chest. She visited the Osaka Municipal Museum, the Namban Bunkakan (Osaka), the Kobe City Museum and the Tokyo National Museum. In November 2005 she carried out a detailed examination of the Chiddingstone Casket, an object closely related in style and date to the Mazarin Chest. In March 2006, Julia visited the extensive library and private archives of Heinz and Else Kress in Liljendal, Finland, to research specific motifs on the Mazarin Chest and related export lacquer. This was followed in April 2006 by the undertaking of a detailed examination of part of the collection of export lacquer at Burghley House

Art Historical Research, 2006/2007 update

In June 2006 Julia Hutt accompanied Shayne Rivers and Yoshihiko Yamashita on a visit to Temple Newsam, Leeds, to carry out a detailed examination of items of export lacquer directly related to the Mazarin Chest, their visit being facilitated by conservator Ian Fraser and curator Anthony Wells-Cole. In the same month, a very fruitful discussion was held in London between Shayne Rivers, Yoshihiko Yamashita, Julia Hutt and Cynthia Viallé, who is completing her PhD in the Netherlands on the VOC trade registers. In response to questions about how long the Mazarin Chest would have taken to make, Yoshihiko Yamashita calculated that it would have been approximately two years.

In September and October 2006, Julia Hutt travelled to Japan to pursue research into examples of domestic and export market lacquerware decorated with scenes of the Omi Hakkei  (Eight Views of Omi / Lake Biwa) in order to assess possible connections with the Mazarin Chest. At the Kyoto National Museum she examined a 17th century lacquered desk belonging to the Reikanji temple, Kyoto, that is decorated with images of the Ishiyama Temple and the Seta Bridge. She also visited the Suntory Museum's store in Tochigi to study a book cabinet of comparable date decorated with similar subject matter. Although she was unable to visit the actual eight famous scenic spots around Lake Biwa, she plans to do this on a future visit to Japan, when she will also visit the Toshogu Shrine, Nikko.

In May 2007, Julia Hutt, Shayne Rivers, Catherine Coueignoux (Conservation Department) and Carolyn Sargentson (Research Department) travelled to Paris to examine a French cabinet incorporating an early 17th century Japanese lacquer panel. This and another panel from a 19th century French cabinet in the collection of the V&A originally formed the front of a Japanese chest that is likely to have been produced in the same workshop as the Mazarin Chest. A visit was also made to the lacquer stores at the Musee Guimet. Future plans include a visit to Elton Hall, Peterborough, to research the Buys Box, companion to the V&A's Van Diemen Box (illustrated).