Japanning is a Western imitation of Oriental lacquerwork. In 1688 John Stalker and George Parker issued in London the earliest manual describing its production; subsequent publications appeared through the 1750s. In America jappanned furniture survives from Boston and New York, while contemporary sources record its ownership in Philadelphia and Charleston.

Americans did not adhere to the prescribed English formula and designs. Unlike their London counterparts, who worked with porous oak, Bostonians used maple or pine for their base, finding it unnecessary to build up a layer of gesso. Instead, they applied the background color directly onto the wood surface. The earliest survivals, on Early Baroque high chests and a dressing table, have a solid black background and large-scale ornamentation. A 1733 bill from the Boston japanner William Randle for “Japanning a Piddement (pedimented) Chest & Table Tortoiseshell & Gold” records both the reconfiguration of earlier forms and their decoration.

During the Late Baroque period japanning was applied to an even greater range of forms, including tall clock cases, looking glasses, and bureau tables. At the same time, the decoration underwent a refinement, such as the combination of vermilion and black paints to simulate tortoiseshell. This process was followed by the application of a clear resin, more paint, and resin-based toners. The raised figures were cast in place, using a gesso putty or gypsum, and then decorated with metallic powders, paints, and leafs. The finished high chest represents the master craftsman’s orchestration of skilled specialists, including cabinetmakers, carvers, gilders, turners, and japanners.

Technical notes: Soft maple (legs, drawer fronts), eastern white pine; eastern white pine. The drawer surrounds are double-beaded. The base is capped by a two-part molding, the upper case bottom framed by a molding in a manner typical of Early Baroque case furniture. The lower case sides are relieved by broad, flat arches. The cornice’s circular openings have an applied bead. The back of die lower case is relieved by an inverted, flat arch. A full dustboard separates the three small top drawers from those of the full-length drawer. The finials are copied from those of the related high chest and the pendants from those on a walnut dressing table (Fales 1976, p. 209, no. 428). The japanning survives in a remarkable state. Its decoration incorporates silver leaf and powder, an unusual if not unique instance, its layered structure most closely relating to that shown in Downs 1952, no. 187. A drawer back is inscribed: “This cabinet repaired and redecorated Jan. 1900, Joseph Norton, decorative artist, with J. H. Boody, Brookline.”  (Joseph Norton and James H. Boody [b. 1847] appear in the 1900 Brookline directory as painters.) The extent of Norton and Boody’s restoration has not been determined; however, losses have been filled and painted over on the facade and its sides overlaid with exotic motifs, presumably to disguise losses.

Related examples: The Bayou Bend high chest’s cabinetwork and carving is clearly from the same shop as Heckscher 1985, pp. 240–42, no. 155; however, the japanning is completely different in concept. Other japanned, pedimented high chests include Downs 1952, no. 188; Greenlaw 1974, pp. 90–92, no. 80; Rhoades and Jobe 1974, pp. 1084–85, 1087–88; Jobe and Kaye 1984, pp. 197–201, no. 36; William Doyle Galleries, New York, April 16, 1986, lot 510; and another at MFA, Boston (acc. no. 1976.653). A walnut-veneered high chest with painted shell drawers is similar in proportion and appearance (Sack 1969–92, vol. 7, pp. 1718–19, no. P4848).

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1988.