Writing box with Camões inscription

late 16th century

Not on view

This writing box belongs to the sixteenth-century world of Portuguese expansion into the Asia. It exemplifies the way Portuguese in Asia commissioned European-style furnishings using Asian materials and craftsmanship. This small cabinet, with a locking mechanism, served as a secure place to store confidential documents and correspondence as well as writing implements and sealing wax for its Portuguese owner. Whether at a company factory, or at sea, such a writing box provided safe, and portable storage. That it is embellished on all its visible surfaces with low relief carving, richly lacquered and gilded, underscores its importance to the owner as a prestige object.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

References

Title: Writing box with Camões inscription
Date: late 16th century
Culture: Lower Burma, Kingdom of Pegu
Medium: Wood, lacquer, gold and iron
Dimensions: H. 6 11/16 in. (17 cm); W. 13 3/8 in. (34 cm); L. 17 1/2 in. (44.5 cm)
Classification: Lacquer
Credit Line: Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions Fund for Asian Art and James and Dhira Mahoney Charitable Foundation Gift, 2024
Object Number: 2024.481a–d
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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