The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Won a bid for Export Lacquer Chest

On June 9, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, bid successfully on a Japanese chest for 7.3 million euros (approximately 950 million yen) at an auction. This lacquer chest, made in Japan in the early Edo period, was originally purchased by French cardinal Jules Mazarin in 1658 and was found in a private house in France. One of the four Japanese chests owned by the Mazarin family, this is one of the finest pieces of Japanese export lacquerware, made entirely of black-lacquered wood lavishly decorated with gold maki-e and raden (shell inlay) decoration. It came into the possession of Sir Trevor Lawrence, a British collector of Japanese art, in 1882, but went missing since 1941. (Japanese)