PEARLS AND PEARL SHELLS. 449 



Some of the finest known examples of inlaid pearl work are in the canopies of the 

 the tombs at Allahabad, India. These date from the sixteenth century, the pearl 

 work being a thin veneer set in black wood, and the ornamentation consisting of elab- 

 orate Persian designs. 



In the Siamese pavilion were numerous examples of inlays, minute diamond- 

 shaped pieces of abalone shell set in a black, pitch-like lacquer. This is similar to the 

 lacquer ^vork that the same people make, in which they use tiny bits of looking-glass 

 made of remarkably thin glass with a coating of mercury on one side. 



In the Chinese section there were some fine specimens of what Jacquemart, in his 

 " HistoiredelePorcelaineChinois," describes as lacque burgandee, belonging to thereign 

 of Kong Hi, in the seventeenth century, and made in the porcelain works at Ching-te- 

 chew. They consist of an application of black lacquer on a specially prepared unglazed 

 porcelain, the lacquer inlaid with thin flakes of pink and other iridescent colors of 

 mother-of-pearl. Thin leaves of gold and silver are inlaid and introduced as parts 

 of the decoration. Through time the silver has generally become black. This method 

 of inlaying is now carried on at Canton and in Cochin China, forming Quite an indus- 

 try, wooden vessels and dishes being used instead of the unglazed porcelain. 



The embellishing of ironwood, teak, and other wood at Canton forms quite an 

 industry, the shell being set in wood in the form of leaves, flowers, and arabesque 

 designs blending with the carved and plain surfaces of the chairs, settees, and other 

 objects in which the shell work is inlaid. 



The Japanese have added to the inlaying process the painting of mother-of-pearl 

 work with lacquers. This work dates from the time of Kovin and Ritzui, the greatest 

 artists in this line, who, although they did not create the art, founded quite a school 

 for this style of ornamentation. The abalone shell is used to represent hawthorn or 

 other floral designs, and the lacquer is brought close to the pearl work, the two 

 blending one with the other, and the pearl itself occasionally exquisitely lacquered. 

 Another form of ornamentation consists in inlaying, into the lacquer, squares of 

 mother-of-pearl, so minute as to form an unbroken iridescence ; also microscopic petal- 

 like bits arranged as flowers in transparent lacquers. Beautiful examples of such 

 Japanese work, in various styles, may be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 

 New York City. In the Moore collection, for instance, is a casket with butterflies in 

 abalone on gold lacquer; another with leaves and flowers in mother-of-pearl, also 

 on gold lacquer; and some small pieces so closely inlaid with pearl that nothing 

 else appears, and the most exquisite effects are produced by the different kinds 

 employed, the ground being a sort of mosaic of the brightest green abalone, and the 

 patterns inlaid in rich pinkish and lilac- tinted mother-of-pearl. 



As so little has appeared in the United States concerning the utilization of pearl 

 shells of any kind in lacquer or similar industries, the following notes* from the works 

 of Prof. J. J. Rein, of the University of Berlin, and Prof. Christopher Dresser possess 

 great interest : 



Ao-gainuri or ao-gai-togi-dashi, mother-of-pearl lacquer, in which the coarsely 

 or finely pulverized mother-of-pearl from varieties of Trochus and of Haliotis is used. 

 If whole surfaces are to be evenly adorned, the process is like that in which metal 

 powder is employed. If, on the contrary, definitely outlined decorations are intended, 



*See also article on " Lacquer," by Russell Sturgis, in Johnson's Universal Encyclopaedia, vol. 

 iv, New York, 1894. 



F. C. B. 1893—29 



