Covered Box with Figural, Animal, Floral, and Geometric Decoration

This object was made in the Ryūkyū Islands, once an independent kingdom but now part of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The cover is inlaid on its top surface with a pair of three-clawed, spiny dragons cavorting through swirling clouds. The dragons each extend one front claw, the talons stuck in large flaming pearls.

On one long side of the box, a bearded gentleman in a long robe and cap lounges against a tree in a garden as he watches his attendant setting a bird free from its cage. On the opposite side, the scene features a family in a garden, the father wearing a high hat as he holds a young boy’s hand while the mother holds up her infant. On either short side, shaped medallions enclosing floral sprays are set against a cross motif, all using very small mother-of-pearl segments.