lacquer background, more often than not the background is enhanced by dusting with various metallic powders and flakes. This technique is extremely important and is called nashiji, or pear ground. This technique is also used on the risers and on the inside of the inro cases as well as the insides and bottoms of the majority of lacquer boxes.
The design itself is usually done as follows: after the groundwork is completed the design is drawn on one side of the specially prepared paper with brush and ink. Then, using a fine brush (neji-fude) composed of the hair from the back of ship rats, the design is traced on the opposite side of the paper using moist (heated) lacquer. The finished design is then rubbed off onto the lacquered surface using a whalebone spatula. The lines are subsequently dusted with metallic powders and lacquer (ro-se-urushi). The entire design is now built up to the desired height or effect by repeated dustings using various types and sizes of brushes and dusting tubes (tsutsu) covered with fine gauze mesh. Repeated layers of lacquer followed by drying and repeated grinding down and polishing are also necessary. Similarly, colored lacquer may be superimposed in the same way. By using alternate layers of dustings and coats of lacquer, the design is gradually built up. In this way the artist is actually working in a three-dimensional medium even though the entire thickness of the design through the repeated rubbings may only be 2-3 mm. thick. Similarly, the design may be ultimately constructed as a completely flat surface and still maintain the three-dimensional effect by means of slight shadings in tones and the varying depths in the lacquer in which the dustings are done. It should also be noted that the colors themselves are altered according to the depth in which they are placed in the amber-colored lacquer layers. All of these factors have to be taken into account by the lacquer artist, who must be able to visualize step by step in advance the ultimate complete work, as any error in judgment cannot; be rectified by removal or erasure. The additional processes involved in the various lacquer techniques will be described separately.
In metallic dusting the following technical points should be noted: 1) deer's-hair brushes (menso) are used for spreading on thick lacquer preparations; 2) kebo, or horsehair brushes, of different sizes are used for applying gold dust; 3) white horsehair brushes for drawing coarser outlines, and 4) rat's-hair brushes (neji-fude) for drawing finer outlines. These are just some of the brushes used. Tsutsu, or dusting tubes, consist of various-sized hollow tubes of bamboo and swan and crane quills, cut at each end at an acute angle and covered at one end with different-gauge gauzes for application of different grades of fineness of the powders. Special sticks (hirame-fude) are used to lift tiny scales or squares of metal foil for application to the tacky lacquer surfaces
Various metals and alloys are used, many of the alloys being indigenous to the Japanese artisan. The metallic powders are also mixed with colored powdered pigments. The following is a partial list of the various metallic dusts, Different shading is obtained according to the amount of gold or silver dust used.
gold= kin or ogon (literally, "yellow metal"); yaki-kin (literally, "burnt gold" or gold or a brassy color)
silver= gin
copper =akagane (literally, "red metal")
iron= tetsu or kurogane (literally, "black metal")
varying shades of "pale" gold:
koban-kin or koban=10 parts gold, 2.6 parts silver
jiki-ban=10 parts gold, 3.1 parts silver
namban=10 parts gold, 3.6 parts silver
shakudo-fun=7 parts gold, 3 parts copper (copper tint)
Combinations of metallic powders and pigments are as follows:
aka-fun (literally, "red powder")=gold, koban, or silver powder with vermilion and charcoal (bronze effect)
kuro-fun (literally, "black powder")=gold, koban, or silver dust with charcoal
nezumi-iro-jun (literally, "gray powder")=silver dust and charcoal in equal portions, with a trace of vermilion
kuri-iro-fun (literally, " chestnut-colored powder")=one-half gold dust and one-half powdered camellia charcoal and vermilion
shu-kin=an admixture of gold dust and cinnabar
The metals are made in different grades of fineness, different sizes, and different shapes. The first type consists of metal powders: yasuriko or yasuri-fun (filings or file powders), which are made from pure gold or the lighter-colored koban-kin (gold and silver alloy) or pure silver (Figs. 54, 55). They are graded into twelve grades of fineness, from the coarsest (ara-tsune) to the finest (usuji). However, an even finer powder called keshi-fun is made only out of gold or koban. Each of the twelve grades has a different name.
The second type consists of scale dusts, or hirame (flat eye), also prepared from gold, silver, and koban-kin (Fig. 51), They have eight different sizes, from the largest (dai-dai-ichi) to the smallest (saki) and are made by flattening metallic filings.
The third group, called nashiji (pear ground), consists also of irregular flattened flakes made from pure gold, koban-kin, jiki-ban, namban, and pure silver (Fig. 140). They consist of seven degrees of fineness, from the largest flake, called dai-ichi, to the finest, called saki, In general they are finer than hirame. The name nashiji comes from nashi, a small Japanese pear whose skin has somewhat the aspect of aventurine, and ji, which in Japanese means background. Gyobu nashiji is a kind of nashiji made from 34 parts gold to 35 parts silver. It is quite coarse and requires several coats of lacquer to cover it up sufficiently (Fig. 14).
The fourth group consists of foil (kana-gai) cut up into small squares or various-shaped rectangles of gold, koban, or silver which are inlaid next to one another according to the decorative pattern. They are made of four different thicknesses (Fig. 53).
The last group consists of scales of mother-of-pearl of different sizes as well as shell-scale powder called aogai-mijin (Fig. 77). These scales and powders usually come from the green-blue-reddish iridescent shell called aogai (see "Somada," page 127).
All of these various grades of metal and mother-of-pearl are used for composing either the pictorial design or the ornamental background, and the first three groups serve in making up the special ground called nashiji.
Classification of Techniques
The entire range and production of the materials used for lacquer work has been briefly outlined. The finished lacquer product consists essentially of three elements: 1) the background, 2) the pictorial design, and 3) the decorative designs (supplementing the pictorial design).
While the same materials and techniques may be used for all of these three elements, special technical effects have been developed peculiar to each element. Thus the pictorial design is often raised in relief by a special technique called takamakie which rarely applies to the background. Similarly, the background may be specifically made to simulate iron, a technique which is not usually practiced on the pictorial or decorative designs. On the other hand, pieces of cut foil or mother-of-pearl may be scattered in the background and also used for the pictorial and decorative designs. Similarly, in carved lacquer all of these three elements are involved in the same process. In general, however, while the pictorial and decorative processes make use of similar lacquer techniques, the methods used for background effect in lacquer ware as well as in metal art are. often unique.
For the most part, lacquer techniques are named according to the technique used (flat sown picture, lead-oxide painting, etc.), the name of the artist who originated the technique, or the original place of manufacture of a special technique. For example ji in Japanese means background and nashi is a type of Japanese pear. Nashiji, or "pear ground," is therefore a descriptive composite of both of these words referring to
