The Brookhaven leader., 1889-11-28
JAPANESE lACoUERINo.
The Art no Practiced by the Artisans OF
Toxic and Osaka

Toxic and Osaka
A portion of the raw lacquer, about
sixteen pounds, is poured into a largo
.ircular wooden vessel and vigorously
stirred with a long-handled tool for five
or six hours, while the heat of o small
charcoal furnace is ingeniously thrown
upon the surface to evaporate the water.
During the stirring certain ingredients
may be added from time to time.
have seen this operation as conducted
| in Osaka The rOirO, a fine black
lacquer, is made by adding iron at this
stage. In Toxic soluble salt of iron
is used, but the Osaka manufacturer
objects to that, asserting that it Injuries
the quality of the lacquer. The materi-
al used in Osaka was the fine iron dust
collected from the grinding of knives
This was added in quantities of about a
teacupful of powder mixed with water
at a time, until the desired color was
| obtained. When the work is finished
the lacquer is poured into vessel to
settle, and is afterward drawn off from
the sediment The wood gener-
ally used for lacquer work Is the
light, easily-worked hinoki, a
coniferous wood from the Chdm6cyp-
dris (Retinospord) obtusa. 1t is prepared
to receive the lacquer in various ways.
For inferior work it is first covered with
paper, but in the finer qualities paper is
not used. The operations to be de-
scribed apply to the manufacture Of that
variety of lacquer known as Wakasa
lacquer and are from personal obserya-
ton. Tho wood is first carefully
smoothed and tho corners of the boxes
strengthened by gluing pieces of cotton
| or hemp cloth around them with raw
lacquer. All joints and imperfections
are then filled with tsugi urUshi (tsugt, to
fasten), which fills like putty. This Is
a dark-colored mixture composed OF rice
flour made into paste with water and
mixed with seShime uruShi. 1t soon hardens
so that it can scarcely be cut with knife.
Sometimes a tinely-cut hemp is mixed
with the tsugi urushi. The tool used
for this work is the take no herd. The
work is then covered with jtR0k0, MKT
ure of seshime urushi Ia commoner lac
quer) and coarse powder of yellowish
color The mixture is soft, of a yellow
ish-brown color, changing to black by
exposure to the air. 1t is spread with q
wooden instrument called herG. The
article is left for few days in the open
air to allow some of the water to
evaporate, after which 1T is placed
in moist-air closet to harden.
In this way a very hard, gritty
surface is obtained, affording an excel
lent ground for tho succeeding coat.
This process is not applied in making
inferior goods. For these mixture Of
the powder with glue is sometimes used,
| and for this reason cheap ware some
times blisters when used with hot wa
ter, the glue swelling if the water
reaches it. Similar blistering may also
be occasioned by the natural gum of tho
lacquer if it should be present in eX-
cessive quantity. The noxt process con-
sists in covering the entire box with
two coats of lacquer, containing finer
powder known as tOn0kO, which is kind
of ochre much used in Japan for clean
ing and polishing. This is likewise
evenly spread with the herq. Three
coats of this are applied over the joints.
The object of this process is to secure an
even, smooth-grained surface for subse-
quent work. The surface is finally
rubbed down with kind of stone called
toishi The parts that are not to receive
any decoration are now ready for the
finishing applications of lacquer. The
other parts are next covered with a
black lacquer, naka n.urt urushj, applied
to the outer surfaces and top edges of
the sidos. The lacquer used is Shitaji
urusht mixed with kind of black
lacquer known as hOnk,ro, lion meaning
not false, kuro, black This is probably
the best kind of rojrO lacquer 1t is APP
piled with brush and requires to be
rubbed notwithstanding of the
United States National Museum.