Modernist Japanese Deco Lacquer Stacking Boxes black and umber A few nice old nails

A few nice old nails along the bottom edge with one patch of old surface cracking/chipping there

it is reminiscent of pottery of the arts and craft movement

no chips or cracks or crazing that I can see

I think the images of balls and tops and animals and trains

Modernist Japanese Deco Lacquer Stacking Boxes black and umber A few nice old nailsI don't know the maker on this, but definitely Japanese, c. 1920s 40s I believe, and really beautiful. The gold brown not quite gold, not quite mustard, not quite brown really does it for me combined with the red and black, and the target like lid is just the right topper. Three boxes in one, configurable in various ways if one likes. Feels very Bauhaus era (I thought perhaps German or Austrian from a distance) but also very Japanese. Just right. 5 7