Jar with Scenes of Frolicking Monkeys, 1302. To make this vessel, a wooden form was covered with successive layers of lacquer, the clear sap of the highly toxic Rhus verniciflua tree. This time-consuming process requires each layer to dry before adding another. Lacquer was, therefore, an expensive status symbol; aristocrats prized lacquered architectural features, furniture, musical instruments, and serving vessels. This jar is particularly noteworthy as the only surviving lacquer jar with a narrative scene from the period, showing a family of monkeys trying to cross a river at the bottom.

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Size: 4022px × 4700px
Photo credit: © Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1185-1333, art, cleveland, cloth, coloured, covered, hemp, heritage, japan, kamakura, lacquer, museum, period, unknown, wood