Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/384

 lacquer; the latter, those distinguished by surface decoration. Of the former there are many kinds, from the monochromes—mirror-black, vermilion, cinnabar, and other hues of red, yellow, brown, and green—to grounds ornamented with dusting of gold, silver, mother-of-pearl, tin, or bronze; inlaid with mother-of-pearl; marbled; grained like wood, and so forth. Of the "art lacquers" also there are many kinds, but the distinguishing feature of all is that they have passed through the hands of the decorative artist, and by him have been ornamented with pictures which take them completely out of the rank of mere technical excellence.

It is not necessary to dwell upon "artisan lacquers." Some of them are very attractive, but, after all, they belong to the class of varnishes, and have little to do with applied art.

The artist by whom the decoration of art lacquer is undertaken has the name of maki-ye-shi, which signifies "an expert that strews pictures." This term is derived from the fact that strewing with dust of gold was the earliest method of lacquer decoration. At first the expert merely sprinkled gold powder sparsely over the surface, subsequently polishing the latter. Such lacquer was called heijin. The next stage of progress gave the maki-kini-ro, in which gold dust having been thickly strewn over a black field, a coating of translucid lac was superimposed, careful rubbing with charcoal and polishing being the final steps. Sometimes the gold dust was sifted so thickly that its particles lost their individuality, and a golden ground (kin-ji) resulted, showing soft lustre and a charming play of broken light. At a later era "pear-ground" (nashi-ji), or aventurine, was obtained by