A JAPANESE EXPORT GILT AND BLACK LACQUER CABINET EDO PERIOD, 17TH/18TH CENTURY Of rectangular form with a flat top, the pictorial-style cabinet with two hinged doors to the front decorated with an extensive landscape, with temples and pavilions nestled in the hills; the right door painted with buildings reminiscent of Kiyomizudera and Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto; the sides with depictions of flowering peonies and bamboo; all rendered in gold and silver hiramaki-e on the black roiro lacquer ground; the front doors decorated to the inside with two pairs of cranes, and opening to reveal eight drawers of various sizes and two smaller doors with lockplates; the drawers embellished with further birds, flowers, and pavilions in landscapes; the back with a paper label for `Curtiss & Sons, Ltd. Depositories: Comdr A. E. Johnstone (?), no.112`; with a built-in stand and raised again on an associated European stand with chinoiserie decoration, 149cm high overall, the cabinet 88.5cm x 102cm x 53.5cm. (2) Cf. O Impey & C Jörg, Japanese Export Lacquer (1580-1850), pp.130-34 where comparable cabinets are illustrated and discussed. The label at the back refers to Curtiss & Sons, a storehouse opened in the 1860s and first located in Portsmouth, UK, before expanding to the rest of the country. Portsmouth is home to the Royal Navy and the word `Comdr` is a shortened version of Commander. Commander Johnstone may thus have been a member of the Royal Navy.