The University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong is delighted to present Japanese Jewels: Imperial Silver Bonbonnières, an exhibition of precious boxes that illustrate a well-documented tradition in Japan, which rose to prominence during the Meiji era and became formalised in imperial ceremonies. These containers, often made from pure silver and adorned with gold inlays and enamel, regularly display motifs that symbolise auspicious elements such as longevity, prosperity, and harmony. The story of Japanese imperial bonbonnières is a story of both creation and reception—of the master artisans who made them and the carefully selected recipients who received them. Makers like Kobayashi, Miyamoto, or Muramatsu upheld court traditions through exacting craftsmanship, while recipients, from nobles to foreign envoys, engaged in a socially meaningful system of imperial recognition.

Stylistically, Japanese silver bonbonnières exemplify artefacts shaped by encounters with European court practices, refined through technical and aesthetic adaptation, and ultimately transformed into powerful symbols of modern Japanese sovereignty. They demonstrate how a foreign object type, reinterpreted through national traditions of craftsmanship and ceremonial use, became an enduring component of Japan’s imperial identity. Their evolution from Meiji modernisation to Reiwa minimalism tells a larger story about the material culture of power, the visual language of the Japanese court, and the role of objects in mediating historical memory. Though modest in scale, the bonbonnière encapsulates the convergence of courtly patronage, artisanal expertise, symbolic visual culture, and ritual within modern Japanese history.

For more information please visit the University Museum and Art Gallery (HKU) website.

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