Banquet Table (kakeban) with Design of Clouds and Chrysanthemums

The sumptuous gold-lacquer chrysanthemums decorating this serving table celebrate the beauty and abundance of autumn. Revealed among delicate, lacy leaves, a profusion of blossoms in low relief is echoed by spiraling clouds of swirling gold and silver flake, all against a gold-dusted, "pear-skin" ground. The raised, neatly indented corners on the top complement the four finely proportioned legs, the taut, curving shapes of which give the table an elegant and dynamic form. In style and technique, this table closely conforms to work from 16th-century Kyoto, especially the costly commissions for the nobility and the ruling military class. Beautifully set with gourmet morsels before an honored guest, the table would exemplify the lavishly ornate high aristocratic style of later Japan under the rule of the shoguns.