Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/344

 gold), which bites into the nunome, and then with a wafer-like layer of silver. Next another equally slight coat of silver is beaten over the whole surface, the result being that the design shows out with a faint golden hue in a silver field, the detail, however, not being discernible, and the picture looking as though the artist had roughly dashed in a rudimentary design with light-gold pigment. The next step is to hammer or punch the details of the design so as to emphasise them, and finally the expert proceeds to polish the surface with strips of toishi (honing stone) bound together into a brush. The use of this peculiar instrument is tedious and demands delicate manipulation. Thus the various layers of metal are gradually ground down until the design emerges showing tints of all the metals employed—shibuichi, gold and silver. The shibuichi outlines assume the appearance of sepia drawing, and the general effect is that of a sepia picture in a silver field with a flush of gold looking out here and there. An impression of atmosphere and of water is obtained by this process with remarkable realism. Fishes appear to be swimming in silver water, some in the foreground, some in the background, and some in the middle-distance, and so perfect is the illusion that the body of a fish is sometimes seen partially emerging, partially disappearing, in the silvery fluid; flowers and sprays appear glowing in sunlight; birds beat the air with their wings, and landscapes lie bathed in soft hazes. The process not only entails great labour, but also demands an exercise of skill which does not appear to be within reach of any of the artists of the present day except Kajima Ippu.

Any account of metal-work in Japan must include