FRANC MACONNERIE, JAPON pour l'export, Nagasaki, période Edo, XIXème siècle

Rectangular box in black lacquered wood with inlaid marquetry decorations of white or colored mother-of-pearl and gilding of polychrome flowers on five sides. Molded lid on hinges decorated with a cartouche with the columns of the Temple and Masonic attributes. Black lacquered interior with two flowering branches, in suite, on the back of the lid. 11.5 x 39.4 x 23.4 cm. Without key. Wear, scratches and some missing decorations and some chips in the lacquer. This box belonged to a Dutch Masonic dignitary received as Magister in 1852 in the Rose Croix Lodge of Batavia. Bibliography: For a similar box, see Cathy ROBIN, "La France Maçonnerie, Objets de Collection, Trois siècles d'Histoire", Editions Chêne, 2012.