LACQUERWARE

Japanese lacquer wares were so famous long ago that the art was called "japanning." To this day, connoisseurs such as E. A. Wrangham believe Japanese lacquer and its designs "display the finest taste and most exquisite craftsmanship of all the world's applied arts:'

Wrangham has a wonderful collection of inrō. Together with writing boxes, desks and tables, and incense storage boxes, these are perhaps the apex of the art; they leave people marveling at their exquisite designs and workmanship. Chinese and Korean lacquer emphasized mother-of-pearl inlay but the basis of Japanese lacquer is maki-e ("sprinkled lacquer;'), with sprinkles of gold and silver and sparer, more painterly designs.

Fig. 358 Suzuri-bako (lidded writing box) in the shape of a tagasode kimono, late Edo period, 6 x 8 in (15 x 20 cm). Photo courtesy Oriental Treasure Box.

Fig. 359 Kōgō (incense box) in the shape of a fan, late Edo period, 5 x 5 in (13 x 13 cm). Photo courtesy Oriental Treasure Box.

Fig. 360 Hand box (te-bako) for woman's toiletry items, with pines and camellias in maki-e on wood, Ca. 1390, 10 X 14 X 9 in (25 X 35 X 23 cm). National Treasure, said to be from Asuka Shrine, Wakayama. Photo courtesy Kyoto National Museum.

Background and History

The lacquer tree (urushi, Latin Rhus verniciflua, in the sumac family), is common throughout Japan. The climate and country match the material perfectly, as the tree loves humidity. Lacquer is a complex resin made from lacquer tree sap. It is toxic before drying, irritating the skin like poison ivy, and leaving burns on contact (many lacquer workers have weals). The best sap is gathered from incisions in trees from July to September, most commonly in the north, in the Kyoto area and Okayama. Once collected, it is purified, the water is taken out, and dyes are added (most often black and red). At first a viscous liquid, after application it dries in a humid room and hardens into a stable and protective compound (which is also used as glue to repair porcelain).

Though lacquer was used pre-history to protect, the oldest aesthetically pleasing and well-known object applied with lacquer is the beautiful Tamamushi Shrine (at seventh-century Horyuji, near Nara). Lacquer has been applied to leather, stone, basketwork, bamboo, ceramics, paper, and metals, as well as wood. Pieces have been found at excavations dating back 7-8 millennia, so lacquer's decorative and preservative functions were learnt very early. Most basic techniques like mother-of-pearl inlay or maki-e and relief carving or Kamakura-bori ultimately derive from China. From the mid-sixth century, the spread of Buddhism caused huge demand for lacquered altar and other ceremonial equipment, so the basics of lacquer spread wherever temples were built. Chinese, rather monumental taste prevailed.

Two centuries later, lacquerware took on a more Japanese feeling in response to the court nobles' taste for restrained elegance. Quality lacquer was sprinkled with powdered gold and silver in a technique called maki-e (starting in the eight to ninth centuries) and sometimes inlaid with oyster and other shells (raden, aogai). The designs were often of seasonal plants, but references to poetry and motifs were later commonly taken from Genji Monogatari (ca. 995, the world's first novel, recording Shining Prince Genji's extensive love life but also the courtiers' excursions, customs, rituals, and poem-making habits with extended set pieces).

The eighth shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-90), was a poor leader but a great patron of the arts, among others helping the Ko'ami family develop taka-maki-e (raised lacquer) skills, in following famous painters' designs. By the sixteenth century, the Ko'ami family was favored by court and shōgun, dominating the trade with their maki-e and nashi-ji. Beautiful lacquer pieces often bore designs from waka (31-syllable) poems, linking the aesthetic worlds of literature and lacquer, and adding depth of association. In the later Momoyama era, the detail lessened and the drama and color increased, reflecting the bolder, more assertive society associated with the unifying leaders Nobunaga and Hideyoshi.

Perhaps the most venerated old lacquer pieces are those termed Kōdaiji, after the Kyoto mausoleum erected by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's widow in his memory. Lacquer had been used to decorate whole walls long ago and now it was revived for larger spaces, so the making process was simplified. Instead of detailed preliminary drawing, lacquer was applied freehand on a lacquer base. Similarly, taka-maki-e and other time-consuming techniques were avoided. Flat applications of gold and silver dust on black grounds gave a sophisticated softness and bore no additional sealing lacquer layer. Details were opened with a needle (harigaki), or little pools of lacquer speckles contrasted with the deep black lacquer.

Fig. 361 Ryōshi-bako (stationery box), with chrysanthemum, cherry blossom, rose, and lily design, by Kawanabe Itchō, ca. 1890, 13 1/2 x 16 1/2 in (34 x 42 cm). Photo courtesy Kiyomizu San'nenzaka Museum.

Fig. 362 Fumi-bako or fu-bako (document box) designed to carry Buddhist documents, gold and silver maki-e with mother-of-pearl and silver inlays; maki-e lotus leaves on interior; lid has relief birds, clouds, lotuses, musical instruments, and calligraphy, unsigned, Meiji era, length 7 in (18 cm). Photo courtesy Flying Cranes Antiques.

In Bridge of Dreams: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection o!Japanese Art, Murase Miyeko suggests that the extra demand for lacquer from foreigners in Japan may have stimulated lacquer workshops to employ non-family lacquerers who might have brought in new skills and approaches, contributing to the fresh approach of Kōdaiji lacquerware. Westerners (like samurai too) would have had no interest in Heian literature-perhaps explaining why the main motifs were flowers and autumn grasses.

The Burke Collection has a beautiful te-bako (box for a lady's cosmetics, etc.) with red cut-out areas that contrast tastefully with the surrounding black and gold; a dynamic writing box bisected by a lightning bolt into predominantly black and nashi-ji halves; a lotus-laden sutra box, and a wonderfully understated kurodana decorative wedding trousseau shelf-all made around 1600, with Kōdaiji traits. The same collection boasts a cabinet and food box in the Namban style that is more florid, reflecting the fact that Christianity was quite a force between 1550 and 1610. Bible stands and other religious paraphernalia were also created in lacquer, exported and prized in Spain and Holland, along with some hinged boxes to please the Portuguese.

The main currents of lacquer continued throughout later centuries, though fascinating provincial preferences also obtained, as we shall see. Some new directions came from Rimpa-inspired artists like Ogata Kōrin, around 1700. Changes in the nineteenth century included many new colors, and a kind of crisis which occurred around 1870 when the Western tidal race pushed lacquer out to sea through a combined turning away from the old and the impoverishment of samurai families who sold all their old goods to stay alive (gold was even stripped off lacquerware and sold), undermining lacquer appreciation and prices. The ship was tugged back to harbor by exports to customers enamored of the lacquer-ware seen at foreign exhibitions and by sales to rich tourists exploring the exotic Orient. Unfortunately, the lacquer ship is now becalmed in a windless sea, as ordinary people have lost interest in this luxury-priced item and there are few well-heeled patrons.

Basic Techniques and the Industry

The basic skills of drawing and painting are widely understood but lacquer itself is unknown to Westerners. This chapter therefore provides far more technical detail than others, to give readers background.and show the incredible variety of effects.

The lacquer trade is but a shadow of its former self, a victim of plastic's victory and changing eating habits. Lacquer elegance does not go with junk food and is no great friend of cost-consciousness, nor of desert climates and fierce air-conditioning which causes it to dry out and crack The number of centers making lacquer has dropped, but Kyoto, Tokyo, Yamanaka, Kiso (Nagano), Hida Takayama, Noshiro (Akita), Kuroe (Wakayama), Wakayama, Kagawa (Sanuki polychromes), Tsugaru and Aizu Wakamatsu (polychromes common at the last two) are still producers, while Kamakura and Murakami (Niigata) carve lacquer.

The town best known for lacquer is Wajima on Noto Peninsula, on the Japan Sea north of Kanazawa. Though the current Wajima lacquer method has been proved to be 200 years old, the town is thought to have been "lacquer country" for much longer. A book by Harima Ki'ichi and Kokon Shin'ichirō, Wajima Shikki, implies this on the basis of folklore and circumstantial evidence about people living in the mountains and supplying lacquer bowls to farmers in return for food, but cannot prove that immigrants came to Nato around AD 700, bringing lacquer techniques with them.

Lacquerers prepare a core of wood or bamboo in the shape they want, coat it with a priming coat of lacquer and persimmon juice to fill hollows or nicks, and apply perhaps a layer of cloth over fragile rim parts to give strength where needed. They then apply a priming layer of lacquer, then one thin layer after another, rubbing it down each time in between. The very finest may have dozens of coats and take months to finish. Special conditions are needed: the pieces are placed in a muro drying cabinet that maintains 75 percent humidity and 70° F (20° C) temperature for drying (or hardening as some purists insist)-a striking anomaly. Due to distance and local conditions, the various lacquer centers use differing processes. The above is a survey approach.

Wajima uses a special "diatomaceous" earth found outside the town according to Diane Durston, that is reduction-fired and graded into three qualities and applied initially with rice paste. (Another writer talks of a product derived from the sea.) With each application, the coatings employ better earth and more/finer lacquer. In between, the coats harden and are burnished. Black and red grounds dominate but a lot of chinkin (gold) is added. For this, a design is cut into lacquer, a thin layer of lacquer is painted within the incised lines, then gold dust or foil decorates the still tacky lacquer.

Fig. 363 Suzuri-bako (calligraphy box), with Chinese black pines and deer by Nagata Yuji, a follower of Kōrin. Photo courtesy Kyoto National Museum.

Fig. 364 Bundai (tatami writing desk) and suzuri-bako, with matching design of bush clover and stream in maki-e and mother-of-pearl inlay, 1850-80, table 24 in (61 cm) long, box 10 in (25 cm) square. Photo courtesy Osaka Municipal Museum of Art.

Fig. 365 Suzuri-bako, with poetical seashore motifs in maki-e and silver inlay, design inspired by a Kokinwakashū poem, 9 x 10 x 2 in (23 x 25 x 5 cm). Photo courtesy Kyoto National Museum.

Fig. 366 Underside of lid in Fig. 365. Photo courtesy Kyoto National Museum.

The typical Wajima process comprises the following:

A wooden base is primed and holes are filled in;

Lacquer-saturated fabric strips are applied to edges and seams to provide strength at potential stress points;

An undercoat of earth, rice paste, and lacquer is applied;

This is repeated but with finer materials;

Even finer earth and more lacquer are then applied;

A middle coat is applied;

Then another;

The top coat is applied;

In between the coatings, the lacquer hardens, is burnished and smoothed, for example by old women with no oil in their hands, with many applications by different experts, so a community craft;

Many whetstones, stag antler, and other abrasives and polishers are used throughout the polishing process to bring out the incredible mirror-like finish.

Another typical process is that of Aizu, in Tōhoku, which began in the sixteenth century. By the eighteenth century, colored lacquers started and the art of maki-e spread; 4,000 people are still involved, it is said. Typical goods are tray-tables (zen) and stacking bowls (jūbako). In this process, one priming layer-shibu shitaji- of lamp black or powdered charcoal is mixed with persimmon tannin. Several layers are then applied, dried, and burnished followed by a coat of tannin alone, which is also burnished. The lacquerer finishes with layers of lacquer. Sabi shitaji-a clay-like primer (sabi)-is put on, followed by the usual overcoats. Chinkin is a common technique and involves incising a design into lacquer, then applying a thin layer of lacquer in the incised lines, followed by gold dust or gold foil over the tacky lacquer.

Kiso uses a different kind of clay- sabitsuchi, not jinoko- which has good sealing properties. Woods used include katsura (judas tree), horse chestnut, and Japanese cypress. This process allows the beauty of the wood to be retained whereas other methods tend to cover up the grain, which can be a disadvantage.

Hida is known for shunkei style lacquer where the wood texture shows through. It also uses a lot of bentwood and cherry bark strips to hold the shape. The yellow or pale red colors are simple and cheaper, and are also more in step with the modern age. Tsugaru lacquer is speckled, with a variety of mainly earth colors.

Special Techniques

One thing that has made Japanese lacquer special is that artists used it as Westerners use pigments and canvas-for painting. For this, they developed many skills. The names given here (with more in the chapter on sagemono) may be hard to grasp but will help you to understand the subtlety of the art.

Nashi-ji has specks of gold in the lacquer, giving the slightly rough, speckled appearance of pear skin. Nashi-ji is a favorite foundation of hira-maki-e, where lacquer is sprinkled on to form designs, and taka-maki-e, where lacquer layers are applied to a surface raised above the surroundings. With togidashi, metallic or pigmented powders are applied, then more lacquer coats and the whole ground down to give a level, burnished look. Roiro gives a shiny black finish. Roiro shishiai togidashi maki-e combines these processes. Nashi-ji looks more elegant than a shiny finish so was often used on high-priced items like sword sheaths, tea caddies, and inrō.

Kamakura-bori was mainly done at the eponymous city near Tokyo. It involved carving wood (especially facetted corners) before applying lacquer, so that it looks as though the lacquer itself has been carved. Lacquer itself was indeed carved in old China, but for that you needed great thickness of lacquer. Kamakura-bori eliminates the need for thick lacquer and gives a similar look. Expanses of black and red have great visual appeal.

Fig. 367 Fumibako (letter box), with cherry tree design in maki-e, Edo era, length 10 1/2 in (27 cm). Photo courtesy Osaka Municipal Museum of Art.

Fig. 368 Hokai (shell storage box), four metal decorative flanges, peony and paulownia decoration on outside, paulownia and chrysanthemum design on inside of lid, ca. 1900, ht 16 in (41 cm). Author's Collection.

Fig. 369 Kyōdai (mirror stand), with palace scene suggesting Heian era incidents, 19th c., ht 23 in (58 cm). Would support a silver mirror. Private Collection.

The Kamakura-bori technique started under the great Zen influence in Kamakura during the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries, when the shōgunate had its capital there. Priests came from China bringing temple supplies like daises, desks, and altar vessels made in tsuishu (Japanese reading of the Chinese term for built-up red lacquer). After decades, these had to be repaired so little by little local sculptors skilled in Buddhist images expanded their repertoire and learnt how to carve lacquer for repairs but also to carve wood and then lacquer it. They learnt how to control viscosity while lacquering edges or corners without the lacquer running down. By the fifteenth century, the city had become known for its lacquerware. A famous Kamakura-bori circular box in red and black lacquer stored in Konrenji, Kyoto, is dated 1481.

Typical decorative motifs are guri, a Japanese term for deeply carved spirals, heart shapes and scrolls; also peonies, birds and flowers, dragons and clouds, and legendary figures. If you visit Kamakura, you still find examples but there are few artisans or works. (Chōshitsu: Urushi no Relief, with essays in Japanese by Arakawa Hirokazu and Haino Akio, gives a lot of background, and contains 230 plates of mainly tsuishu; it was published by Nezu and Tokugawa Museums for an exhibition they organized in 1984.)

Negoro-nuri is red lacquer on top of black. The upper color is rubbed off in places, allowing the under layers to show through in a pattern that the lacquerer largely chooses but looks unplanned. Sometimes it derives from sheer later use. The way the color shows through is suggestive and a joy to see. The name comes from Negoro, a temple near Wakayama City, largely destroyed by Hideyoshi in 1585. The monks reputedly developed the technique for their own use, and later for sale. However, Negoro works have been found predating and postdating the temple's existence and other areas produced it too, so perhaps the term is a general classifier, not a proof of origin or date. People value Negoro for its symbolic possibilities: the more it is used, the more black shows through, suggesting that greater knowledge, or more human or poetic qualities, become evident; the marbling is magic.

Kebori has very fine lines. Ke means "hair" and the very finest work is said to be made with a mouse hair, though usually something like a pin made the extremely delicate lines in lacquer that was still damp. A memorable example for me is black carved on black, showing a tiger and dragon. The pearl the dragon chases and the eye of the tiger are highlighted in a different color, otherwise everything is a delicate matte black.

Hidehira, Nambu, and Jōhōji bowls were made in Tōhoku from perhaps the sixteenth century. Hidehira bowls have "a full body, lips slightly curved in and spacious and heavily built bases sloping outward" (Hayashi Mitsunori, Daruma 3). They often come in threes (big, medium, and small though none are very big), with the inside vermilion and on the outside a black ground decorated in vermilion with clouds, gold lozenges, and strips. The others are similar in feeling, while Sōhōji bowls look more like monks' begging bowls and were only found at this seminary in Masuzawa, Iwate. The bowl's mysterious provenance and preservation (they were probably used only on festival days) captured the imagination oflacquer fanciers in Japan, as well as their bold cinnabar on black decoration, now faded and worn, and pleasing to many. They are hard to find.

Hayashi explains the mystery thus. Lacquerers moved in groups through the forests looking for good timber, such as keyaki and lacquer trees. Once these kiji-shi had used those materials up in one area, they moved on. Local villagers who lived in one place for centuries found this a strange practice and made up stories, probably confounding them with the countrywide stories of the lost, invisible village and of swapping bowls for food (as in Wajima, above).

Okinawa (formerly the Ryūkyū Islands) was an independent kingdom under the cultural shadow of China until it was conquered by the Satsuma clan of southern Kyūshū in 1609. Its lacquer had been mainly vermilion and gold with typical shapes derived from China, like the ton da bun, a round, lidded, and compartmentalized serving dish on short feet. Shell inlays prevailed. Later, probably to please mainland Japanese taste, black lacquer was also made. Some collections have been formed but the islands were devastated in 1945, while much of the best from the royal collections had been looted by the Satsuma (ending up in the Tokugawa Museum, Nagoya), so little is left on the islands.

Fig. 370 Two-panel screen with silver frame, gold lacquer, and Shibayama, showing figures playing amidst cherries, unsigned, Meiji era, ht 7 in (18 cm). Photo courtesy Flying Cranes Antiques.

Fig. 371 Four-case sheath inrō in sabiji nuri lacquer with inkcase netsuke showing a spider and fly, Shibata Zeshin (1807-91); on inrō, a badger holding a saké jar skulks among grasses (engraved in delicate kebori), signed, 3 in (8 cm). Author's Collection.

Fig. 372 Striped lacquer trays signed Kawabata Naokichi and seal, inscribed "twice lacquered," ca. 1880, 12 1/2 in (32 cm) square. Ex-Misugi Takatoshi collection. Jay Burns Collection.

Individual Artists

One thing that stands out in the history of Japanese lacquer is the existence of "polymaths," men who excelled at several arts.

Hon'ami Kōetsu's (1558-1637) name is found at Kōdaiji (1596, see above)-his lacquer prefigured the Rimpa School-but he was also a raku potter and calligrapher.

Ogawa Haritsu (1663-1747), usually known as Ritsuō, was an innovative lacquerer known for his haritsu-zaiku technique in which ceramic shards, ivory, and shells are boldly inlaid in maki-e designs. He painted Tosa School type works, made pottery, and was well known for his many haiku poems. He was fascinated with copying old inkstones in lacquer (see Sagemono).

Shibata Zeshin (1807-91) was a great lacquerware maker with very individualistic designs thanks to stints with Koma Kansai II for inrō in Tokyo and with Shijō School painters there and in Kyoto, as well as being an outstanding painter in lacquer and ink. He came to fame in 1840 with a design of a she-devil grabbing back her severed arm from a coffin: Tokyoites took it as a political statement. When costly materials were outlawed, Zeshin looked for ways of using cheap materials to show his genius, like resurrecting the old "combed wave" (seigaiha) and seidō (bronze patina) skills. He also copied rusty iron and polished rosewood.

Zeshin was particularly prolific and hard working. He lived through thirty Meiji years, meaning that many of his works went overseas (though he was appointed an Imperial Craftsman and helped decorate the Palace) and so was collectible. The inrō (Fig. 371) was sold at Sotheby's in June 2002. Favorites of mine among his works include a portrayal on paper of a bird in a thatched bird-house on a flowering plum (Baekeland Collection) and on a tray of a hoe with pampas grass and chrysanthemums tied to it (both Asian Art Museum, San Francisco); the dramatic tiered box with taros and chrysanthemums in the Burke Collection; and a tray with a lily bending under the weight of a large bloom in the Khalili Collection (see also Sagemono).

Other famous Meiji era lacquerers are Ikeda Taishin (Zeshin's pupil), Kawanabe Itchō (Fig. 361), Shirayama Shōsai (Fig. 373a, b), and Ogawa Shōmin (Imperial Japan: The Art of the Meiji Era). Their works also appear on sale occasionally.

To show that lacquer is a continuing medium, I mention two contemporary lacquer artists. Terai Naoji, a "living national treasure" working in lacquer in Ishikawa Prefecture, is rather traditional. Akabori Ikuhiko, in contrast, does avant-garde works in lacquer, often looking like space monsters or satellites. He likes to use lacquer with metals, often cut out and very much part of the mechanical world. Shiraishi Masami (chief curator, Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art) in Urushi: Jiku no Sekai, explains that there are many fine examples in the Imperial Warehouse (756) that use hyōmon-"cutting patterns out of thin sheets of gold, silver or other metal and then applying them to the lacquered surface as decoration"-typical of Akabori's work. Later hyōmon were mainly used for details as maki-e grew more popular. Rimpa artists added lead and got another effect. Yatsuhashi by Ogata Kōrin particularly impressed Akabori and persuaded him to use hyōmon skills in his stainless steel works. "Junryū," perhaps his most famous work, looks like a design for circuit boards, the Pompidou Centre, or oil refinery piping, depending on your leanings, but is certainly striking! Terai and Akabori are the North and South Poles.

Wedding Paraphernalia

Wedding costs in Japan average $50,000-100,000 and have always been high, forming an outer rampart of the whole family system that bolstered old Japan and bound families together. Middle- and upper-class parents of a bride were expected to provide a dowry that included a lacquer boudoir set, with jewelry boxes, mirror stand, and assorted containers (Fig. 360) and shelving, plus items like a bookstand and incense storage box as well as hokai or kaioke (Fig. 368). Two large boxes containing beautifully finished lacquer boxes held a set of shells for the shell-matching (kai-awase) game. By giving these shells, the bride's parents were promising that their daughter would be a faithful wife, as only pairs matched.

Clam-type shells have two halves whose outer sides can be prized apart. They have no special traits but each shell's vital joining part has differently shaped geometry, so that Shell A's what I shall call "lefty" cannot be joined to Shell B's "righty:" physically, they just do not fit together. This was taken as symbolizing the wedding sacrament-Man A only matched Woman A. The shells' outsides had naturally matching patterns which could be used for pairing, but the inside of one might have the first part of a poem and the other the second, or naturally paired pictures would be painted on the two. At times like the New Year, guests would gather with, for example, all the lefties spread out on tatami mats, while a caller would bring out one righty at a time; the assembled guests scurried around looking for the appropriate matching lefty. Legend has it that the man and woman matching the most shells could be rewarded with permission to go off privately together.

Fig. 373a, b Maki-e panels by Shirayama Shōsai (1853-1923). showing (left) herons at sunrise, (right) crow at sunset, ht 331 1/2 in (85 cm). Photo courtesy Kiyomizu San'nenzaka Museum.

Weddings brought families together in alliances, so money was flaunted to show their importance. During the shogunate, no family was more important than the Tokugawas, and it is therefore apt that the most elaborate extant bridal set is at the Tokugawa Museum, Nagoya. It was made for Chiyo who married Tokugawa Mitsutomo in 1639. This bridal set is called "Hatsune no Chodo" after an episode from Tales of Genji. A full set could involve many tiered stands, innumerable boxes, and little items-as many as 360 pieces!

Fig. 374 Saké pitchers, Namban (Iberian-influenced) lacquered flasks for export, each in lacquer box (not shown), 16th c., 12 x 5 x 5 in (30 x 13 x 13 cm). These were for drinking but other exported lacquer flasks were for ceremonial use. Photo courtesy Kyoto National Museum.

Incense Items

Great refinement also pervades items used for the incense ceremony, and the art of incense-matching (kō-awase), which was an esoteric art in itself. From the sixth century, incense had been linked to religious offerings but it later became a way of giving clothing a pleasant smell; garments were wafted in the smoke or hung above it. Heian era courtiers vied to recognize or make the best fragrances (2,500 are mooted now) and as the custom spread down the social ladder, schools sprang up as did rules regarding its use, especially in the fifteenth century. Other activities include enjoying a scent alone and two people burning different incenses that will match well, or alternatively evoke a defined literary scene. The art peaked three centuries ago and has few adepts now but has left physical evidence and I believe smell memories: a certain refinement and good taste stops Japanese women wearing overbearing perfumes.

Kō-bako and kōgō are the main incense items (Fig. 359). Both translate as incense box or case, but the former is larger, the latter shallower, while those with several tiers are termed kō-jūbako. The variety of incense case shapes is extraordinary. The Walters Art Gallery in Maryland has a number of uncommon shapes in its collection, among them two intersecting books, one open, one closed; an obi bow; fans; koto; a priest's traveling chest; a pheasant; a reclining lady in court attire; a helmet; a tortoise with an internal tray and five tortoise-shaped boxes; a sumōreferee's fan; overlapping rafts; a cap, and a peach! The shapes are rivaled by the myriad designs, with all the imaginative (and pecuniary?) juices involved in producing such masterpieces.

A takigara-ire holds incense ash; kō-awase dōgudana are gorgeous cabinets on multiple but varying levels with drawers and cupboards; kō-dansu are portable chests to hold incense items in drawers; kōro are censers to hold charcoal for burning incense (see Fig. 411); kō-dokei is a cabinet with notches in a wooden frame for burning incense at incense parties (it burns at a constant rate, so you count time by the number of notches burnt past). Some examples I have seen are in wood, but lacquer clocks exist too.

Writing Utensils

Some of the most elegant lacquer items of all were utensils for writing, a revered activity. At the Heian court from the tenth to the twelfth century, the ability to communicate in writing (often in poems) was the hallmark of good breeding, and this tradition was adopted by later warrior regimes. The basic item was the bundai, a low table at which you brushed your work (Fig. 364). Nearby you had a lidded writing box (suzuri-bako) containing an ink-stone, ink-stick, brush, and water-dropper (and sometimes extra brushes and knives in luxurious articles) (Figs. 358, 363, 365, 366), as well as stationery or document boxes (fumibako, fubako or ryōshibako respectively) (Figs. 361,362, 367). Often no expense was spared to make these extraordinarily beautiful. Their prices now start at several thousand dollars but go way up. At a recent auction in Japan, the selling dealer refused $40,000 for a writing table and letter box, though they did not seem so special.

The great riches of Edo era lacquer are imbued with artistic skill and painterly vision that does raise them to the ranks of greatness-even to me! It is perhaps the boldness of the designs with literary references found in works by Zeshin, or the unsigned "Dream in Naniwa" writing box in the Burke Collection, that leave me sighing-just like the great genre scenes on Momoyama screens!

More recent writing boxes or sets, perhaps incomplete or a little chipped make excellent gifts- especially to yourself or your spouse! They are testimony to Japan's rich lacquer tradition and add a little extra something to your life: there is something unbelievably romantic about handling a box that may have held the love letters of some famous man or woman.

Lacquer Screens and Chests

Painted silk wall screens (byōbu) are enormous (72 in, 183 cm high) but Meiji era lacquer screens are often microcosms of the same universe: they convey similar themes and prowess but on a smaller scale, for example 8 in (20 cm) high (Fig. 370). Kodansu are little chests (often 3 1/2-4 in, 9-10 cm high) with two metal-hinged panels and a small lower design under the main one.

Miscellaneous Items

On altogether a smaller scale (but not necessarily cheaper), little objects which dangled from the belt, called sagemono, were also spared no expense, as they might place you in the ranks of the well-dressed (Fig. 371); these are described under Sagemono.

Similarly, small but beautiful lacquer items include the powder and tea leaf containers (natsume and cha-ire) used for the tea ceremony. These often bear individual names, and within the Tea community are highly valued. Their diminutive size or comparative sameness makes them less desirable to an average Westerner.

The Walters Collection has ten kashi-bako (boxes for cakes and sweetmeats) which are every bit as dazzling in shape and design as the incense boxes mentioned earlier. Perhaps the king and queen of all are the taiko drum-shaped cake box and the carved red lacquer box in the form of camellia petals.

Kendai are decorative lecterns, especially for singers/reciters who sit cross-legged in the theater. The stand and reading board can be disassembled and put in the drawer along with the fine corner silk tassels often at each end, for transport to the player's next performance. In my part of Japan (Kobe-Osaka), these are often said to be from Shikoku, which had a reputation for joruri and bunraku, but I have no proof that this is true. The last beauty I saw belonged to the then Dutch Consul-General's wife and was tragically smashed in the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.

At their magnificent 1990 Arts of Japan auction, Spink offered a beautiful lectern estimated at $20,000 or so: "a black ground lacquer lectern finely decorated in taka-maki-e, hira-maki-e and kiri- gane with cherry trees overhanging a stream by rocky banks and kadomatsu plants, 18th c., 57 cm."

Everyday Ware

Lacquer is a complex, advanced polymer. It can be intensely beautiful but at the least is practical- a strong sealant and preserver-so the range of lacquer items (nurimono) is wide.

During the Edo and Meiji periods, lacquer bowls were the standard food vessels and were served to guests sitting cross-legged on the floor on individual legged trays (zen) as there were no dining tables. The higher the legs, the more formal the occasion (or the wealthier the family). Bowls were red or black and the better pieces had gold decoration. Every middle-class house had 20-40 trays with four matching, but differently shaped, mostly lidded bowls (for rice, soup, the main dish, and pickles or other vegetables) (Fig. 372). Important family events, such as weddings and funerals, were held at home as most places had no modern hotels and restaurant rooms for staging banquets or wakes.

Fig. 375 Tub,yutō (hot water pourer), basin with ears and stand, towel rack, all with design of weeping cherry trees with crests of Gion Amulets in maki-e, Edo era; diam of tub 21 in (53 cm); ht of pourer 8 in (20 cm); diam of basin 10 in (25 cm); ht of stand 8 in (20 cm); ht of rack 23 in (58 cm). Photo courtesy Osaka Municipal Museum of Art.

These lacquer trays and bowls are available now at strikingly low prices considering the cost of making them. This reflects the post-World War II move from large old houses with multi-generational families and storehouses, to small urban apartments. Japanese still admire lacquer but there is nowhere to store bulky sets in the typical small urban apartment, so sets of ordinary trays go cheaply even if they are very old, in good condition, and beautifully made (black is cheaper than red). Nowadays, trays would be $20-50 and an appropriate set of dishes on one might be double that. If elaborately decorated, they are dearer, but because of low demand and excess supply, they are a steal for those who believe in intrinsic value (artistic elegance and original time and skill needed, compared to current cost).

Saké cups and pitchers are abundant also: sets of three for the bridal saké cup ceremony and little sets commemorating a youngster's call-up into the military (or release), retirement from a firm, the setting-up of a group, or a reunion. Also common, easy to use, and elegant are yuto or hot water pitchers (Fig. 375 left) and the standard lidded rice serving bowl (hitsu) and spoon. Ceremonial saké barrels, some with horns and so linked to warriors, come into this category, too, as do huge quaffing vessels.

Lacquer was a favorite material for other household goods like those for washing: basins (tarai) and towel racks (tenugui-kake) (Fig. 375 back). If these have family crests or are particularly attractive or boxed, they may be pricey. A tabako-bon (smoking tray) with pipes and an ash holder was automatically offered to guests and these were often lacquer, though wood was more common.

Fig. 376 Shokudai (candle stand) with chrysanthemum shaped base, ca. 1900, 32 in (81 cm). Usually in pairs. Author's Collection.

Kyōdai (lacquered mirror stands) (Fig. 369), candle stands (Fig. 376), kōgai (ornamental hairpins or bars), kushi (ornamental combs), and other hair ornaments were beautifully made and bear the years well. Seasonal items like no-bentō and hanami-bentō are very desirable, but still within ordinary budgets. Hanami-bentō (Fig. 378) are elaborate boxes taken on flower-viewing picnics and other excursions. Often a servant would carry one, but it was not too heavy for a wife either. Typically, it contains dishes and food containers for five people and two flasks for saké. No-bentō were smaller and more for brewing up tea under the cherry trees, or while on the road, so their appearance is more modest.

Another seasonal standout for Westerners is the jūbako or tiered box (it can also be ceramic), a feature of the New Year (Fig. 377). The first three days were a time for visiting, especially by relatives, and it was natural to offer food to guests. At the same time, no shops were open nor refrigerators to hand, while women traditionally expected a several-day long rest from cooking at the New Year.

Very cunningly (this is asserted without evidence), men got round this problem by making their women work fiendishly hard in the last couple of days of December preparing extra sugared or vinegared foods (o-sechi ryōri) that kept well, stored in the tiered boxes (lacquer and ceramic both preserve, while the winter cold helped too). These and plates were brought out if guests called, so technically no food preparation was required.

Jūbako see little service in Japanese houses now (wives often order food in from supermarkets/department stores or persuade their husbands to spend the year-end in a hotel to avoid the drudgery) but have become a must at the houses of Westerners in Japan who hold parties: they look exquisite in their 3-5 tiers on the sideboard or they can be used to carry appetizers (three-tiered, circular jūbako often held cosmetics). Boxed and with an extra lid, lacquer tiers are luxurious-looking but low-priced ($100-1,000 or more; the latter only if beautiful and old).

In a similar price range are lanterns or andon. These make wonderful additions to Western houses as they diffuse a lovely quiet light and come in unusual shapes. The maru-andon is round, some 36 in (91 cm) high and its paper shade has two parts; one turns 180 degrees to allow a taper or match to be applied to the wick or candle (most get electrified today). The paper can be left ajar, to let out subtle shafts of light, or closed for softness.

Smaller Gifu lanterns with frills and colored paper are used for festivals (including the Girls' Festival on March 3rd). Other small lacquer lanterns, some 14 in (35 cm) high, were made for geisha's bedsides. Less durable, they are rarer but a steal-and evocative. The ariake (pale dawn moon) lantern has sides with different shapes for the new, mid-month, and full moon, so lets out varying intensities of light; with its poetic magic it is a big favorite-if found! Other hand-held lanterns were of wood, but were not lacquered. They come in all shapes and are useful and desirable. Temple candle stands are attractive and often come in pairs.

Fig. 377 Jūbako (fou r-tiered box), with design of bamboo and chrysanthemums, ca. 1900, 12 x 9 in (30 x 23 cm) square. Jay Burns Collection.

Fig. 378 Hanami-bentō (picnic box) with design of various flowers in maki- e, 19th century, ht 10 1/2 in (27cm). Photo courtesy Osaka Municipal Museum of Art.

Lacquer was extensively used to decorate male attire (horse gear and armor or sword fittings) and female ornaments like combs and hairpins. Here the market is more fragmented with a lot of goods being one-offs and history mattering as much as current appearance. Because of the strong samurai tradition honoring soldiers and their equipment, much has come down to us which serves little purpose (ancient horse girths, for example) and are not pretty either. Armor and swords are covered in another chapter.

Buddhist altars and the items that go with them (some are bronze) are beautifully lacquered and sets cost a fortune when new. The market for used altars is bedeviled by the unwillingness of Japanese to buy secondhand things. Some are exported and saved, but many altars are destroyed. Japanese connect the altars with dead relatives and the need to spend hours propitiating them with prayers and offerings, so when they move house or the grandparents die, find a reason to be rid of old associations. This means that they may be available at low cost to foreigners, but it is better to ship them overseas. Japanese would feel uncomfortable coming to your house if you had one. Given their low cost and high quality, they are a steal if you do not mind the associations!

Collecting and Care

Until three or four decades ago, lacquer was part and parcel of life in Japan and so many things remain in stores and warehouses. The mirror stand shown in Fig. 369 was part of ordinary dowries and may still turn up near you, just like writing boxes. All are intensely collectible, with their dramatic designs and low space requirements. As suggested above, lacquerware is seriously under-valued. If you are in a dry climate or have fierce heating in winter, follow the practice of museums: put the item in a cabinet and place an open bowl of water nearby to mitigate the dryness.

Avoid abrasive detergents or the use of sharp tools or blades. Wash lacquer in warm water and a little liquid soap if very dirty, and dry quickly. Normally a wipe with a wet cloth is enough. Try never to scratch the surface or peeling may later occur.

Though the day-to-day utility of lacquer has declined, its beauty remains. Great places to see lacquer are Kiyomizu San'nenzaka Museum in Kyoto, Tawara Museum in Ashiya, Japan's National Museums, the Walters Art Gallery, and the Freer Gallery, as well as Europe's great collections of Oriental Art.