A JAPANESE FOOD CONTAINER SET, LATE EDO PERIOD

Marvelous black lacquered 蝋色漆 (roiro'urushi) sage'jûbako 提げ重箱 (multi-tiered food boxes/picnic box that can be carried by hand) with a fantastic hiramaki-e 平蒔絵 (low-relief design) and takamaki-e 高蒔絵 (high-relief design) design of flowers and lines. Inside the frame several containers; the upper part with 2 single-tiered covered containers, the lower part with 2 two-tiered covered containers, and the base with a hidden tray. The sage'jûbako is considering its age in a good condition with some traces of age and wear. Hanami, as a major festival celebrating one of the four seasons, came to be associated with tiered food boxes called jûbako. Often made of lacquered wood, the tradition of stacking them was not only for functionality but also to symbolize the desire for good fortune to "accumulate." Late Edo period.