Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/382

 thin hempen cloth. To fix this covering, the surface is painted with a thin pulp of rice-paste and lacquer, and when the paper or cloth has been smoothly pressed into this adhesive bed, a thin coat of lacquer is applied. The danger of warping is thus effectually averted, and exudations from the wooden surface are prevented from reaching the ultimate coats of lacquer. The surface of the paper or cloth is then subjected to processes somewhat similar to those employed in the case of the wooden surface. First it is over-spread, once, twice, or even three times, with a putty of rice-paste, lacquer, and pottery-dust, each coat, when dry, being rubbed down with sandstone. Then another kind of pulp—differing from the last in the proportion of the ingredients and in the addition of pulverised ochre—is laid on, and carefully polished after drying. Next follows a light coating of pure lacquer, and then another application of "stiffening," the putty in this case consisting of pulverised ochre and lacquer with or without pottery dust. Indian ink is now rubbed into the surface by means of a ball of cotton, and thereafter black lacquer, specially prepared, is applied with a flat brush, the object being then carefully dried. A very troublesome and tedious process ensues. It is that of "rubbing down." This is done with a special kind of fine-grained charcoal. Many days are devoted to the work, and the surface finally obtained is perfectly smooth, lustreless, dark grey, or greyish black. The preliminary operations are now completed, and the object is ready to receive whatever coats are destined to give it its final appearance.

The reader will observe that in this method of