17th Lacquered And Gilded Venetian Domed Box

A rare and precious Venetian domed box made of richly lacquered and gilded wood, early 17th century, depicting "The Conquests of Venice".
Boxes like this are more one-of-a-kind pieces than rare items; they should not be confused with the lacquered imitations in the "arte povera" style that would become widespread in the 18th century.
We are at the dawn of Venetian lacquer; following the 16th-century “Persian” decoration, inspired by Arabesque motifs, the “depentori” began to turn their gaze toward the East and China: it was precisely the merchants and missionaries traveling the Silk Road who extolled the quality of Chinese lacquer and brought the first lacquered objects to the Lagoon.
This casket celebrates Venetian conquests: the figure we see seated on the throne, wearing the typical tricorn hat, is the Doge, who personifies Venice, before whom a foreign ambassador bows. Many figures, some hooded and holding torches, enliven the scene.
The beauty and richness of the decoration are breathtaking. The wood is inlaid with gold leaf from Mecca and painted in shades of red and green; the lacquering process was long and complex, divided into several stages: the wood was carefully sanded and prepared with a very thin layer of special putty. Once the preparation had dried and been sanded, the lacquering process began by applying multiple layers of lacquer (up to thirty, in the most precious pieces), taking care to let each layer dry and sand before applying the next. These were meticulous and extremely time-consuming operations that could take several years and had to be carried out in an environment completely free of even a single speck of dust, so much so that, it is said, the most scrupulous lacquerers performed the final steps in the middle of a body of water.

Excellent condition.

Dimensions H 10 cm W 24 cm D 14 cm