Japanned Chest-on-Chest, ca. 1700
London, England
Pine, japanning, and gilt gesso
Lent by John H. Bryan

Long popular in Japan, China, and India, lacquered furniture first was imported to Europe around 1600. In England, nobles and aristocrats prized its hard and glass-like surface, which was created by applying hundreds of individual layers of tinted lacquer. European furniture decorators came up with a less time-consuming imitation. First they painted or stained a wood surface; second, they adorned it with pictures made from layers of white gesso; then they covered the whole piece with several coats of shiny varnish. Dubbed "japanning," this process became extremely popular in England in the 1680s and stayed in vogue for more than half a century.

The monumental scale of this London chest-on-chest stands in stark contrast to the delicate Chinoiserie decoration on its façade. Bold molded borders varnished to look like gold outline the shaped crest, while each drawer front is decorated with small intimate views of gold and black landscapes that contain wild birds, exotic trees, and animated human figures.