Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/373

 ing been scattered over the surface of the lacquer, a design is added, and the whole is then delicately polished. The decorative motive of the sutra-case is a troop of karyobin (birds with angel's torsos) flying among flowers; that of the jewel-box is an elaborate floral diaper. In the former the artist carefully followed Chinese models; in the latter he partially obeyed the naturalistic tendency of Japanese genius. These works show too much technical skill to be attributed to the beginning of a period of art development, and it seems a reasonable inference that lacquers similarly decorated had been produced since an earlier era.

The tenth century saw a further extension of the range of motives: landscapes and religious scenes began to be included in the lacquerer's repertoire. It is on record that the Emperor Kwazan (985) executed with his own hand a design of Hōrai-zan (the mountain of elysium) on a lacquer writing-desk, and there are authenticated specimens of twelfth-century lacquer in which the decorative designs take the forms of a figure of Shaka among flowers and birds, of Arhats worshipping a dragon, of phnixes, and even of human figures. From the eleventh century, also, the use of lacquer ceased to be limited to boxes, desks, and minor objects of furniture: it was applied to columns, beams, and other parts of the interiors of temples, and the processes hitherto adopted were supplemented by inlaying with mother-of-pearl and with gold. The decorative artist now quickly passed to elaborate and delicately executed landscapes as well as intricate and tasteful designs, which he was certainly able to depict with marked skill during the thirteenth century, if not during the twelfth. He further em-