This object is an antique round lacquer box, typically categorized as an antique Japanese-style papier-mâché or wooden lidded box. It once held face powder. Constructed from lightweight papier-mâché or turned wood coated in a dark black lacquer finish. The lid features a hand-painted, gilded (maki-e style) illustration. The artwork depicts traditional figures, indoor architectural screens, and stylized outdoor elements outlined in gold paint over the dark background. Round boxes of this scale and material were traditionally produced in the 19th and early 20th centuries as specialized containers, such as trinket or vanity boxes, tabletop storage, or export decorative wares.
From the mid-19th to early 20th centuries: the French obsession with Chinoiserie and Japonisme. During the Napoleon III era (1852–1870), Parisian artisans frequently created, finished, or re-mounted imported Asian lacquerwares to suit Western tastes. Many antique cylindrical or round lidded boxes found across French estate sales and antique shops were explicitly produced as Napoleon III Chinoiserie vanity containers. They were typically designed to store luxury goods like loose face powders, hair accessories, perfumes, or small trinkets.
The fine gold linework (or fin) over the dark background mirrors the popular European Vernis Martin lacquer effect, as well as French interpretations of classic Asian illustrations. The scene depicted on your lid shows traditional courtly figures positioned near indoor dividing screens, an iconic aesthetic choice widely exported to and collected in France during the late 1800s. In France, these types of boxes were commonly crafted from highly compressed papier-mâché (molded paper pulp) or lightweight woods, which provided a smooth surface perfectly suited to layering smooth, black lacquer coats.
This box is 3" in diameter and sits at about 2.45" tall.
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