LACQUER WORK. 357 



quickly and evenly from the outside toward the centre, as on 

 polished steel. 



The Japanese lacquering process which I shall treat of in the 

 following pages is as different from ours as the material employed, 

 but still it is not always the same ; for instance, in what concerns 

 the method or painting the groundwork, which can vary very 

 greatly not only according to the nature of the material underneath 

 but also the article. It appears to me necessary only to set forth 

 the better, more careful manner of treatment, with wood as material, 

 after which the more valuable old lacquer wares were made, as also 

 the before-mentioned samples of the collection which I placed in 

 the Royal Industrial Art Museum in Berlin. In conclusion, I shall 

 briefly show the rnanufacture of the common market ware and 

 the process of lacquering ceramic productions. 



We distinguish two classes of Japanese lacquerers, as has been 

 said before — the Nushi-ya and the Makiye-shi. 



A. — Work of the Nushi-ya. 



a. Preparatory of Groundwork, Jap. Shita-ji, also called Togi-tate 

 and Naka-nuri-togi-tate. 



1. The Kokuso-o-kau or luting process. After the article is 

 placed in the hands of the lacquerer, completed and smoothed by the 

 joiner, the lines of joining, the wooden pin-heads, knots, and other 

 defective places are shaved off with knife and chisel, and the cracks 

 or furrows filled up with a kind of putty. This lute or cement, 

 Kokuso, is made as follows : equal quantities of rice-paste and 

 Se-shime-urushi are mixed together, then reduced with finely 

 scraped hemp bast, lint or cotton wadding as evenly as possible 

 to a jelly. This is laid on with a pointed spatula (Take-bera). 

 The putty, at first a greyish brown, turns to blackish brown very 

 soon, and holds exceedingly fast. 



2. The Ki-gatame, i.e. the sizing or staining of the wood (from 

 Ki = wood, katameru = to size). The staining material is Se-shime- 

 urushi with or without the addition of paste, and is applied with 

 the spatula or flat brush. This process has a double purpose, viz. 

 to fill up the cracks and pores in the wood which still exist, and 

 to furnish a groundwork upon which the paper or covering (4) will 

 stick better. 



3. The Hi-komi (hiku = to cover, komu = to press in) is only used 

 on the places already treated with Kokuso-o-kau, and serves to 

 fill up, smooth off, and as an entire protection against the striking 

 in of the following coats. The putty used is a mixture of Ji-no-ko 

 (Ji = ground, ko = powder) — a yellowish brown or red powder, made 

 from bricks or pieces of common pottery (Kawarake), with some 

 water, paste and Se-shime-urushi. After this is dry follows rub- 

 bing down of unevenness with Omura-do, a sandstone from Omura 

 in Hizen. 



