This is a handmade Chinese lacquer box in the traditional tiandigai (天地盖, "heaven and earth") form, with a flowing gold lacquer (Liu Jin, 流金) lid over a monochrome black lacquer base, on a solid ebony body, by HFDlacquerware (禾丰鼎). Made for the scholar's desk, it holds seal stamps, ink sticks, loose tea, jewelry, a stack of letters — whatever you'd rather keep closed than out on display.

Layer upon layer of natural raw lacquer (生漆) is applied by hand and left to cure slowly. The gold on the lid settles into its own pattern during the lacquering process, so no two lids come out the same, while the black base deepens with handling over time. It makes a considered gift for someone who already owns enough matching sets and would rather have something singular.

Tiandigai: a lid for the sky, a base for the earth, and so it can hold anything. The black base is emptiness — and yet also everything full. The gold lid is abundance, the sign that all things already exist. Open it, and what you place inside becomes part of that balance.

Prefer gold all over? See the Full Flowing Gold version.