Lacquerware 漆器

choi

Oscar Holland and Yoko Wakatsuki, The Master Craftsman Protecting Japan's Ancient Lacquerware Tradition. CNN, Feb 23, 2018.
https://www.cnn.com/style/articl ... querware/index.html

Quote:

(a) "The ancient craft of urushi, or Japanese lacquerware, is one of Asia's oldest artistic traditions. Evidence for the use of lacquer -- a tree sap used to coat and decorate objects like boxes, bowls and furniture -- dates back approximately 9,000 years.

(b) "Kazumi Murose, one of the craft's greatest living practitioners, * * * was, in 2008, named a 'Living National Treasure' -- a government accolade recognizing individuals who help preserve Japan's oldest traditions.

(c) "Collected from Asian lacquer trees, the musky-smelling sap essential to urushi is toxic to humans when wet. Once dried, however, it can be used as an adhesive or coating for wood, leather and other materials.

"Murose specializes in two specific lacquerware techniques -- maki-e and raden. The former, (which literally translates as "sprinkled picture") sees him scattering gold and silver decorations onto or between layers of black or red lacquer. The latter involves the use of seashells, mother of pearl and other iridescent materials found in nature.

(d) " 'Urushi won't decay for hundreds of years * * * " Murose said.

(e) An item can take ten months to a year to complete, he said -- even two for a larger piece. He once spent five years working on a huge wooden chest.  A single surface requires multiple layers of lacquer, with each taking between three and five days to dry.

Note:
(a) Yōko WAKATSUKI  若月 陽子  (The kanji 若 in Japan has an additional meaning not found in China: young as an adjective.)
(b) Japanese-English dictionary:
* urushi 漆(P); 漆樹 【うるし】 (n): "(1) lacquer; varnish; japan; (2) lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum)"  (Toxicodendron vernicifluum is "native to China and the Indian subcontinent, and cultivated in regions of China, Korea and Japan."  en.wikipedia.org.)
* maki-e 蒔絵 【まきえ】 (n): "gold or silver lacquer; lacquer decoration sprinkled with metal powder"
   ^ tane maki 種蒔き; 種まき; 種蒔 【たねまき】 (n,v): "sowing seeds; planting seeds; scattering seeds"  (The "tane" is Japanese pronunciation of the kanji 種, meaning seed.)
* raden 螺鈿 【らでん】 (n): "mother-of-pearl"  (Lacking independent meaning, the kanji 鈿 is always used in combinaton with 螺.)
   ^ raden zaiku 螺鈿細工 【らでんざいく】 (n): "mother-of-pearl inlay"  (The s" in "saiku" is softened to "z" because is in the middle, not the beginning, of a word.)
   ^ sa-i-ku 細工 【さいく】 (n): "work; craftsmanship"
(c) 漆 | 室瀬和美 :::: Urushi | Kazumi Murose, Japan
https://murose.com/

The site is bilingual.