Of all the' works of art in which the Japanese excel the Chinese, the lacquer is the most striking. Some of that now made is very fine, but not to be compared with the real old lacquer, which is very rare, and is hardly ever brought into the market, except when some old family is in much distress for want of money ; they then bring pieces of antique lacquer (which is as highly esteemed by them as family plate with Europeans) to be sold at Yedo or Yokohama. There are on some of the noblemen's estates, manufactories of lac quer, celebrated for their excellence, and from which their owners derive great wealth. Articles made there are always marked with the crest or crests of the owner of the estate, so that ware which is much sought after, such as Prince Satsuma's lacquer, may at once be recognised by seeing his crest upon each piece. Old Japanese lacquer is, like good lace, inimitable ; but an experienced connoisseur can at a glance pronounce upon its merits and reality. It is very difficult now to meet with a good old specimen ; the market is stocked full of modern work, made expressly for Europe ; now and then, however, a Daimio very hard up, or a courtesan in temporary embarrass ment, sends secretly from Yedo a choice piece for sale, and it is astonishing to find the enormous price it will realize. Twenty, forty, sixty sovereigns or more are given for an old box not a foot square ; but the sale is tacitly interdicted ; indeed, it is almost as disgraceful for a Japanese to part with old lacquer ware, as it is for an English gentleman to dispose of his family plate. Very great prices were marked on several small articles in the Health Exhibition of 1884. Sir Rutherford Alcock mentions £100 as a sum asked of him in Japan for a box 6 inches square ; and Lady Parkes told him that in Tokio fine specimens were bringing their weight in gold. The lacquer ware of the period A.D. 910 to 1650, known as Jiddi mono, are very highly esteemed (pp. 32, 33).
There are many kinds of varnish known to the Japanese. The best lac is supposed to be the sap or juice of the Rhus vernicifera. The bark of this tree, on being cut, yields a white milk, which becomes black on exposure to the air ; the leaves, petals, and nearly every part of the tree yield also the same liquid. As one of the ingredients in its preparation, the oil of the Bignonia toinentosa is employed. If secret there was, it seems lost to us and themselves, for the modern lac is such a wretched imitation of the ancient, that it is very difficult to admit that the same composition could have produced the two qualities. Ordinary lac has the con
sistency of treacle, and much the same colour ; the first coating is thin and yellowish, the second of a brownish tinge, and the last a bright mahogany.
In Japan, the woods on which lacquer is applied, are Abies tsuga, Buna, Chammyparis obtusa, Ch. pisifera, Cyptomeria Japonica, Cercidiphyllum Japonicum, Hi-me-ko-ma-tsu, Ginko biloba, I'go, Karin, Magnolia hypolema, Morus, sp., Pinus densiflora, Planeria Japonica, Powlownia im perialis, Prunus pseudo-cerasus, Shi-tan, Shoji, Ta-g,a-ya-saii, Thujopsis dolubrata.
The lacquer ware of Benares is good. Two kinds of resin are used ; one called ral or rala is sold at eight annas the seer, and is said to be brought from Mirzapur to Benares. The fine lacquer is made of a resin called gaharba, for a seer of which one rupee and two annas are paid.
Colour-sticks for lacquer ware are used in the Punjab by the Kharati, or wood-turner, to colour his ware when the turning process is com plete. The stick consists of shell-lac, melted down with a certain proportion of wax and sulphur, and coloured by various simple or compound colours. They are applied by the hand. The operator holds the colour-stick against the turned wood object while revolving rapidly ; the heat produced by the friction melts the lac and the colour is deposited on the surface of the wood. The skill and fancy of the operator directs him either in laying on a uniform layer of colour, or else putting it on in little spots or touches, by allowing the colour-stick only very lightly to touch the revolv ing wood, thus producing either a smooth uniform colour, or the pretty mottled appearance so often observed in lacquered ware. Two or three differ ent colour-sticks are often applied, giving the whole a marbled appearance of great beauty. The colour thus applied is spread, fined, and polished, by pressing the edge against the turned object while revolving. The final polish is given by a rag with a little oil. The principal colours are of lac, crimson, orpiment, red lead, green, made of orpiment and Prussian blue, dark blue, indigo of Prussian black, white, brown, or gold colour, light blue or ultramarine.—liedgson's Nagasaki; Sirr'. China ; Powell's Handbook ; Sir Akock ; Tom linson ; Royle's Arts of India ; 11. E. J. R.; Williams' Alliddle Kingdom ; Morrison's Comp. Deserip. ; Consnl John J. Quin in Par. Pap., 1882,