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A Nanban Sawasa Reliquary Cross
15.0 x 10.0 x 2.5 cm
description
Exhib.: "Des Samouraïs aux Mangas", Missions Etrangeres de Paris, Paris 2024 (cat. no. 37)
This rare Nanban Sawasa (copper alloy with gold, silver and arsenic, lacquered in black urushi and mercury guilt) reliquary cross from the Momoyama period was likely commissioned under the patronage of a high-ranking dignitary of Japan's Jesuit community. One side bears a significant inscription in Portuguese, confirming that these Nanban reliquary crosses were produced at the time of the Portuguese presence in Japan. Such reliquaries, of clear Japanese artistic production, were for exclusive use of Christians.
Comparable examples are preserved in Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Tokyo National Museum, and Singapore Museum.
This rare Nanban Sawasa (copper alloy with gold, silver and arsenic, lacquered in black urushi and mercury guilt) reliquary cross from the Momoyama period was likely commissioned under the patronage of a high-ranking dignitary of Japan's Jesuit community. One side bears a significant inscription in Portuguese, confirming that these Nanban reliquary crosses were produced at the time of the Portuguese presence in Japan. Such reliquaries, of clear Japanese artistic production, were for exclusive use of Christians.
Comparable examples are preserved in Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Tokyo National Museum, and Singapore Museum.
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