Lacquer in the Royal Collection
Exquisite examples of Japanese, Chinese and Indian lacquer
Writing box
early twentieth centuryRCIN 54753
Queen Mary collected a number of lacquer boxes, which were displayed at Frogmore House in Windsor. Inside many of these she placed handwritten notes recording provenance and date of acquisition. The note inside this box states that its maker was 'the last and most famous of the long artistic dynasty of the Shen family at Foochow'. Also inside is a booklet in English describing the work of the Foochow artist, Shen Chenghao (active 1903–11), whose pieces were sent to the Palace in Beijing and exhibited with honours at the International Exhibition of Vienna (1873) and St. Louis (1904), and at Nanking in 1910, prior to display in London.