1 Painting done
with colored lacquer iro-urushi 彩漆, made by mixing pigments in a base of
transparent lacquer suki-urusi 透漆. Until the Edo period, five colors -
red, black, yellow, green, and light brown - were available through the use of
natural pigments. White lacquer was not produced until the mid 19c. One extant
example of urushi-e dates back to the early Joumon period: a fragment of
earthenware decorated with a simple pattern in red lacquer was found in the Torihama
鳥浜 shellmound kaizuka 貝塚, in Fukui prefecture. The decoration on the Tamamushi
miniature shrine *Tamamushi
no zushi 玉虫厨子 (mid-7c) in Houryuuji 法隆寺, Nara, is thought to be done by
mixed techniques of urushi-e and *mitsuda-e
密陀絵. From the Nara period, painting in red lacquer against a black background
was favored by aristocrats for lacquered wood utensils and furniture. Around the
Momoyama period daily and ceremonial lacquerware decorated with colorful
urushi-e or mitsuda-e became very popular. Complicated designs of flowers,
birds, animals, and scenes from old stories were depicted and often made more
decorative by using gold powders *sunago
砂子 and gold leaf kinpaku 金箔 (see *haku 箔) .
Local traditions of painted lacquerware continue in many areas today.
2 A type of early hand-colored *ukiyo-e
浮世絵 woodblock print. Animal collagen glue *nikawa
膠 was added to black ink *sumi
墨 to give a lustrous appearance, which was reminiscent of black lacquer. It was
used primarily for hairstyles and costume details such as obi 帯. In part
to balance the strong black areas, other colors were made brighter. Bronze or
brass powder as well as fine mica flakes unmo 雲母 were sometimes sprinkled
onto these prints. Urushi-e was used primarily in the Kyouhou era 享保 (1716-36),
and in the Kanpou 寛保 era (1741-44), but can be seen as late as 1764 on large works.
The technique appears on the prints of artists such as Okumura Masanobu 奥村政信 (1686-1764),
Nishimura Shigenaga 西村重長 (1697?-1756) and the Torii school *Toriiha
鳥居派 masters Torii Kiyonobu 鳥居清信 (1664-1729) and Kiyomasu 清倍 (fl.c.1696-1716).
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