19th Century Chinese Lacquered Wood Japanese Playing Card Box

Description

Presenting a stunning Lacquered Wooden Oriental Playing Card Box. Elaborate hand made floral patterns adorn the lid exterior and box sides.
With extensive gilt decoration, we believe this piece dates to the late 19th or very early 20th century.
The large gaming box measures 4" tall x 10 1/2" deep x 11 3/4" long.
The box interior has four (4 1/2" X 3 1/2" X 2 3/4" tall) lidded interior compartments and eight lift-out card trays (two with damaged sides). The lift-out card trays feature diamond playing card royal suits and one "Gome"
. The box exterior shows some expected lacquer cracking and chips, with the lid showing a noticeable crack along the length and some minor flaking.
Boxes similar to this in better shape have sold for many thousands of dollars.
This unusually large lacquer piece required scores of skilled hours to hand build & decorate at the time it was manufactured. Comes from a bygone time of inexpensive skilled labor and to reproduce it today with the same quality would be very expensive indeed.
This box has been in my family for many years and is looking for a good home with someone to appreciate its unique quality in nature.