LACQUER WORK. 353 



The quantity of iron solution added is determined by the colour. 

 The iron contents vary from 0*5 to 2 per cent. When all the water 

 is expelled, the R6-iro-urushi is passed twice through cotton cloth, 

 and is ready for use as a black lacquer, without further treat- 

 ment. 



Hana-urushi, flower lacquer, is also a black lacquer, like the 

 preceding, and similarly prepared. It contains somewhat less iron, 

 but has a slight addition of Yegoma-no-abura, while Haka-shita is 

 prepared like R6-iro without oil, but of a much poorer quality 

 of raw lac. Saya-hana, J6-hana, J6-chiu-hana and Chiu-hana are 

 several kinds of flower lacquer, as appears on the price list. Naka 

 is a synonym of Chiu, meaning " between," and in the word Naka- 

 urushi signifies a black lacquer of poorer quality which is employed 

 generally to finish the groundwork. All these cheaper black 

 lacquers, which are made from the poorer varieties of raw lac and 

 used chiefly in groundwork, contain Yegoma-no-abura. In Nuritate, 

 which must be classed with them, the oil amounts to 10 per 

 cent. In the northern cities, where each lacquerer prepares all 

 his lacquer materials for himself as he needs them, only one kind 

 of black lacquer is made, and is designated simply as Kuro- 

 urushi. 



The different grades of chestnut brown, or Kuri-iro-urushi are 

 made by mixing the black and cinnabar lacquers together. Gold- 

 yellow or Kin-iro is made by genuine gold powder or its bronze 

 substitute, and Gin-iro or silver white by means of silver dust. 

 Kiwo-urushi, i.e. orpiment lacquer, is greenish yellow in colour, and 

 is made by an admixture of the yellow powder of sulphide of 

 arsenic with transparent lacquer. Awo-urushi or green lacquer is 

 produced in a similar way, by mixing very thoroughly with trans- 

 parent lacquer a green powder called Sei-shitsu (pronounced 

 Sests').! 



As this exhausts the number of Japanese lacquer colours, it 

 appears that the lighter shades of colour, white, yellow, blue and 

 red with their many shades and combinations, and the light green 

 also, are wanting. The Japanese and Chinese have made many 

 attempts to get them, and their failure is to be attributed to the 

 peculiarity of the lacquer. 



In conclusion, I add to this description of the several varieties 

 of lacquer and their preparation, a list of other materials and 

 utensils used by the Japanese lacquerer. Of colours and other 

 decorative material there are: I. Shu, cinnabar; 2. Kiwo, orpi- 

 ment ; 3. Ai, or indigo from Polygonum tinctorium ; 4. Sei- 



^ I found to my surprise, in the analysis of this Sei-shitsu, — concerning which 

 during my stay in Japan I could only obtain the explanation that it was " a 

 kind of green colour," as Hepburn remarks in his dictionary, — that it is a 

 mixture of Japanese indigo with orpiment. Later, when I procured the before- 

 mentioned work of Father d'Incarville, his observation on page 137 astonished 

 me ; " Pour le vert, ils se servent d'orpiment qu'ils melent avec de Tindigo." 

 II. A A 



