Japanese lacquerware

Japanese lacquerware comprises objects coated with layers of urushi, a durable lacquer made from the sap of the lacquer tree. Its surfaces may be colored, gilded, carved, or inlaid.

Urushi: Urushi is a hard, durable lacquer made from the sap of Toxicodendron vernicifluum. This tree sap is the defining coating material of Japanese lacquerware.
Toxicodendron vernicifluum: Toxicodendron vernicifluum is an East Asian tree whose sap is used to make urushi lacquer. Its sap supplies the raw material from which Japanese lacquer is prepared.
Jōmon period: The Jōmon period was a prehistoric era in Japan, conventionally dated from about 14,000 to 300 BCE. Some of Japan’s earliest surviving lacquered objects come from Jōmon archaeological contexts.
Japanese sword mountings: Japanese sword mountings are the fittings and coverings that protect and furnish a Japanese sword. Lacquer protected and decorated scabbards and other sword components.
Chinese lacquerware: Chinese lacquerware is an object coated or decorated with lacquer using techniques developed in China. It shares the material tradition but follows distinct regional histories and styles.
Maki-e: Maki-e is a Japanese lacquer decoration technique that applies metal powder to wet or adhesive lacquer. Gold and silver powders create some of lacquerware’s most distinctive ornament.
Japanese tea ceremony: The Japanese tea ceremony is a ritualized preparation and serving of powdered green tea. Tea utensils are a major setting for the use and appreciation of lacquerware.
Negoro ware: Negoro ware is Japanese red-and-black lacquerware associated with Negoro-ji temple in Wakayama. Worn red coatings revealing black layers became a signature of this tradition.
Buddhist altar: A Buddhist altar is a consecrated structure or furnishing used for devotional offerings and images. Lacquered furnishings appear in temples and domestic devotional spaces.
Korean lacquerware: Korean lacquerware is lacquer-coated craft produced in Korea, often incorporating mother-of-pearl inlay. Korean and Japanese traditions share techniques but differ in historical forms and ornament.

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