Beautiful Japanese Vintage Musical Jewellery Box

( JB442 )
SOLD ~ Please contact us if you are looking for a similar box and we will endeavour to source one for you!

Beautiful large vintage Japanese musical jewellery box. Beautiful symbolic hand painted Japanese scripture. The interior has a revolving Geisha girl plus a secret drawer concealed behind another.

Beautiful Japanese Vintage Musical Jewellery Box

This is a large vintage Japanese musical jewellery box. It features beautiful Japanese scripture, a secret drawer, and a rare revolving Geisha girl. It is very different looking to most vintage Japanese boxes as it features only simplistic yet stylish gold-coloured decoration as opposed to those which have multi-coloured landscape scenes. It dates to the 1950s and is in lovely vintage condition.

The Exterior

The box has a stylish streamlined design and a beautiful glossy black lacquered finish.

The front doors feature large Japanese scripture which is hand-painted in metallic gold. They also have beautiful polished gold metal hinges and swing handles. The right door is beautifully finished with a decorative, engraved, gold metal strip, and the hinges and handle plates are also beautifully engraved. The scripture relates to Good Fortune and Long Life.

The box also features stylish gold metal corner protectors with cut out hearts and pierced ovals.

The top of the box is also decorated. This has applied, engraved gold metal motifs, which appear to be winged insects. It also has a polished gold metal swing handle. There are lovely applied gold metal 'resters' for the handle which have a pierced Oriental design. These prevent the handle from damaging the lacquered surface of the lid. This is a lovely finishing touch and a sign of a high-quality box.

The box stands raised on stylish angled feet.

Notes

The left door needs to be closed before the right. Please close both doors firmly but gently.

We do not recommend lifting the box up by its handle. These types of handles are fitted with thin split pins which could fail with the weight of the box. The handles on these boxes were intended for decorative purposes.

The Interior

The interior has 3 storage drawers plus a further secret drawer which is concealed behind the bottom one. The visible drawers have stylish gold metal 'bar' handles, and the secret drawer has a red button handle.

To the right of the drawers is a lovely compartment featuring panelled mirrors and a revolving Geisha girl. The Geisha turns around when the musical movement is in operation. The Geisha is very beautiful in her colourful patterned handmade Kimono! She has beautifully dressed hair and delicate facial features.

The Geisha girl is such a beautiful feature and much rarer than the standard Ballerina's found in most musical boxes.

The drawers and base of the mirrored compartment have lovely red Jacquard type fabric linings. These have beautiful gold and silver embroidering which feature Japanese temples, bridges and trees. The compartment is beautifully finished with silky gold cord trim and the musical movement is concealed beneath this.

The interior wood has a black lacquered finish, matching that on the exterior.

The Musical Movement

The movement plays a tune which sounds quite similar to 'I Could've Danced All Night' from The Sound of Music. Please note that we are not certain of what the tune is. Please feel free to call us and listen to the tune before purchasing the box, if desired.

Operating The Musical Movement

The movement is operated via the winding key on the bottom of the box. 8 turns of the key are required to fully wind the movement, but 4 or 5 turns are advisable to protect the movement from undue wear. The tune begins to play when you open the right door.

The tune stops playing, as it should, when the door is closed or when the movement has fully unwound.

Notes On Vintage Musical Movements

Care must be taken not to overwind the movement. Overwinding will result in the movement malfunctioning. 

Vintage movements are already old and will naturally have some wear from age and use. They may slowly deteriorate over time.

We are not responsible for movements that may malfunction from further age and use once a box is purchased. Neither are we responsible for movements that malfunction from overwinding.

Please ensure the movement is working as soon as you receive your box. It will be checked again prior to posting.

You can view our full returns policy which includes musical movements and locks, by visiting our Payments And Returns page.

Condition

This lovely box is in excellent condition for its 60/70 years of age. It has sound structure and the musical movement and hinges are in good working order.

The lacquer still has a lovely glossy sheen.

The interior linings are still neatly fitted and have no stains, splits or fraying.

Some of the mirrored panels have age-related wear which is showing through from their backs. Their fronts are not actually stained or damage as they may appear. They have no chips or cracks.

There is only very minor light wear to the lacquer on some of the edges. Nothing at all unsightly. The wear is commensurate with age and honest use.

Measurements

Please use the following measurements to ensure the box is the right size for your requirements.

Length:  30.5cm
Width:   12.2cm
Height:  21.0cm

Top & Middle Drawer Compartments:

12.5 by 8.4cm with a 4.0cm depth.

Bottom Drawer Compartment:

12.5 by 8.4cm with a 1.7cm depth.

Secret Drawer Compartment:

12.5 by 7.1cm with a 1.7cm depth.

Postage

This box will be posted FREE within the UK by Royal Mail Next Day Special Delivery.

NO International postage. We are very sorry but we are unable to offer international postage on this particular box. This is due to its size and weight.

Please visit our Orders & Delivery page for further details.

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