Lost and Found: Documentary Evidence and Scientific Examination of a Mid-Eighteenth Century Japanese Urushi Box

This paper discusses a Japanese urushi box in the collection of the Swedish Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, inventory number TEMP-0030. It documents a study that included scientific analyses by five different processes: sectional optical microscopy (OM/POL), wood taxonomy (WT), pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XRF), and radiocarbon dating (C-14). To a lesser degree, the investigation also included an examination of the inscribed information on a paper label. The scientific results show that the box substrate is hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa Engl.), assembled with a proteinaceous glue. A cloth made from ramie fibres (Boehmeria nivea) covers the wood body. The main constituent in the coating is urushiol, derived from Toxicodendron vernicifluum trees. The black appearance on the exterior faces is due to a pigment of soot. The makie and nashiji decorations, on both exterior and interior faces, are composed of brass, silver, and gold, in flakes and powders. Radiocarbon dating suggests the time of manufacture as 1728-1764 CE, or the mid-Edo period. The information on the paper label suggests 1745 CE and the Zohiko, Kyoto, as the time and place of manufacture. Indirectly, this study emphasises the potential of these analytical techniques and a forensic approach in learning about other 'lost and found' objects.

Automated summary

This paper discusses a Japanese urushi box in the collection of the Swedish Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, providing scientific analysis results on its composition, manufacturing period, and decorative materials. The study demonstrates the potential of analytical techniques and a forensic approach in understanding lost and found objects.