Decorative Arts

2 pieces in this section
Japanese lacquerware: an eight-lobed incense box decorated with Chinese children playing with snowballs in gold maki-eObject study

Japanese Lacquerware: How to Read a Maki-e Box Before You Buy

Japanese lacquerware read through four Metropolitan Museum boxes: function, maki-e techniques, the Kaga school, and a Japanese box given French mounts.

Asian · Japanese27 October 2026 · 4 min read
The catalogue
Mantel clock with a white enamel dial between two winged sphinxes in gilt bronze, on a white marble base with a gilt-bronze frieze of medallions, against a grey ground

Ormolu and Gilt Bronze: The Gold on French Furniture, Explained

French
Elsewhere in the journal
French Art Deco furniture and decoration in Ruhlmann's small salon, 1925 colour plate: pale panelled walls edged in gilt, a tiered crystal chandelier, a gilded relief above a mirror, a dark desk with a slatted lid, a cream armchair and a round painted panel of birds before the fireplace

French Art Deco Furniture: Ruhlmann’s Pavilion at the 1925 Paris Exposition

Art Nouveau & Art DecoBaroque furniture: a tall state bed hung with blue silk damask, with a deep fringed canopy and curtains, shown in a dark museum gallery beside an upholstered armchair

Baroque Furniture: The Roman Baroque Bed

Baroque & RococoDark wooden cabinet with asymmetrical stepped shelves and small open compartments above, gold and red carved panels in the lower doors and a pierced brass grille at the centre

Japonisme: How Japanese Art and Design Reshaped Western Interiors

Asian · Japanese