LACQUERS AND LACQUERWORK. While the art of lacquerwork was first known to the Chinese and taught by them to the Japanese, this latter nation has so far excelled all others as to make its lacquer product stand out as a class by itself. Louis Gonse says: "Japanese lacquer objects are the most perfect works of art that have issued from the hand' of man." W. T. Walters says: "Lacquer is the vehicle exclusively identified with Japanese art and art industries. The Chinese have attempted its use, and in Europe the connoisseurs are familiar with the vernis of the Martins. But lacquer in all its beautiful uses and decorations is a truly Japanese belong In this context it must be said that, while Nippon's natives far outrank all others in this work, there is a very great and distinct difference between the "Old Japan,)) prized by the connoisseur, and the commercial wares made for export by the Dutch during the 18th century and since. This difference was forcibly displayed when a steamer laden with both kinds was returning the fine exhibits from a world's fair and sank. The precious cargo lay for two years at the bottom of the ocean and was then salvaged. The commercial pieces were dam aged beyond repair, the °Old Japan," made many centuries ago, was in perfect condition, not a joint or seam affected. A short descrip tion of the elaborate processes and styles of Japanese lacquers will aid to a better knowledge of an admiration for the greatly prized °Old Japan." Japanese lacquer (urushi) is the sap of the Rhus vernicifera, a plant the cultivation of which is Japan's most important branch of agri culture. The sap is gained by puncturing the bark, and the varieties and treatment are as follows: (1) Seshitne-urushi, the crude lac quer drawn from the branches (and termed °branch') lacquer) becomes very hard and is used for priming (first coat). (2) The com moner lacquer (Ki-no urushi) is full of im purities and a viscous liquid of a dirty gray tone. The impurities are allowed to settle and the lacquer then drawn off is strained. (3) Shunkel urushi, used for furniture, is so trans parent as to show the grain of the wood through it ; it is prepared by mixing pure lac quer with oil of perilla. (4) Roiro urushi is the black lacquer oxidized by two days' stirring of the crude gum in the open air and adding, toward the end, a little water that has had iron filings standing in it. (5) Mixing crude lac
quer with either Prussian blue, cinnabar, red oxide of iron, orpiment, or other pigment, then straining, produces the different colored lac quers. (6) Nashiji, the gold-flecked lacquer, is made by•sifting powdered gold leaf on the fresh soft lacquer. When hard the surface is smoothed and ground to transparency with charcoal and then polished. (7) Tsi-shu, or carved lacquer. was brought from China to Japan about 1600 and this style of work is done mostly on red lacquer, imitating Soo Chou, but the black and brown are sometimes carved.
(8) Guribori effect is produced by superim posing several thick layers of different colored lacquers, each layer having deeply engraved scroll lines which expose the underlying layers.
(9) Beautiful effects are produced by inlays of gold, silver, bronze, mother-of-pearl, ivory, stones, even porcelain. (10) Tsugaru lacquer has a marbled effect showing veins of red, brown and green. The first layer is composed of black lacquer mixed with the white of an egg, or bean powder, and tamped, while soft, with a ball of cotton to produce irregularities of the surface. After reducing by grinding, a layer of another color is added and treated in the same and so on till every color has been used. (11) Wekasa ware has a green and red lustrous surface caused by tin foil beneath the upper coating. (12) Makiye effect is produced by using gold of 60 different color shades.
The cultivation of the Japanese lacquer art is claimed to cover over 2,000 years. The quality of the objects made depends upon the length of time allowed for the drying of the priming, in fact to extend the duration of the siccative ac tion the primed body is set in a damp place and kept under cover to exclude all dust particles. First a composition of the hard "branch" lac quer, ox gall, dust or fine stone powder is used to cover the base of the body. Then commences the first polishing and the object is left to dry slowly; then another coat of lacquer is applied and allowed a long period to dry, when the polishing is renewed. This process is continued till, sometimes, as many as 20 applica tions have been superimposed, dried and rubbed down with clay. The painting or other decoration follows next.