Urushi-e

Urushi-e is an early Japanese woodblock-print style that imitates lacquer’s glossy black surface with ink, sometimes enhanced by metallic powders or hand-applied color.

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Japanese woodblock printing: A printmaking process that transfers ink from carved wooden blocks onto paper, often using separate blocks for different colors. Urushi-e adapted this established method to create dark, lacquer-like printed surfaces.
Woodblock printing: A relief-printing method in which inked raised surfaces of a carved block transfer an image to paper. Urushi-e depends on this transfer process to establish its printed image.
Edo period: The period of Japanese history from 1603 to 1868, when the Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo. Urushi-e developed within the print culture that expanded during this era.
Yakusha-e: Japanese actor prints depicting performers, especially kabuki actors and theatrical roles. Bold black effects suited the dramatic poses and costumes common in early actor prints.
Sumizuri-e: An early Japanese woodblock-print style printed in black ink, before or alongside the spread of multicolor printing. Its monochrome printing provided the foundation for urushi-e’s glossy black effects.
Metallic pigment: A colorant made from reflective metal particles, used to give surfaces a metallic appearance. Metal powders could add glints that contrasted with urushi-e’s dense black areas.
Okumura Masanobu: An influential Japanese print designer and publisher active in the first half of the eighteenth century. Masanobu is associated with experiments in early print effects, including lacquer-like black.
Kabuki: A Japanese theater tradition known for stylized acting, elaborate costumes, and dramatic staging. Kabuki imagery supplied subjects whose costumes and poses benefited from strong printed contrasts.
Sumi ink: A carbon-based black ink traditionally made by grinding an ink stick with water on an inkstone. Black ink supplied the dark printed areas that urushi-e made appear lacquered.
Hand coloring: The application of color to a printed image by brush after printing. Some urushi-e prints received color by hand rather than through additional color blocks.