Approximate size: W2.1″ by H2.1″ or 5.3 by 3.5cm

This is a first class kogo (holding vessel for incense), shaped as a natsume tea caddy. The wood used in this kogo has a quality grain and has been given a transparent coating of urushi or traditional Japanese lacquer work and is decorated with a design of stylized Yukinokesshō or snow crystals in silver. Here the appearance is elegant and the sparse maki-e accentuates the natural pattern of the wood. This delicate balance between maki-e and not overdoing it that makes objects like this one so pleasing to use. A sophisticated kogo for your consideration.

The lacquer technique used in conjunction with Japanese lacquer is called Maki-e. It is incredibly delicate work and the raw materials are highly poisonous to the touch. It takes a long time to add lacquer in layers and it can take months, even years to finish an object. The history of using lacquer in Japan goes back till at least 7600 years ago and the trees that produces the sap have been confirmed to have been in Japan all the way back to the start of the Jōmon period, which was around 12 600 BCE. There are wooden lacquered objects in museums well over a thousand years old which have survived in surprisingly good condition due to the natural strength and resistive qualities of the lacquer that was used.

The sap of the lacquer tree, today bearing the technical description of “urushiol-based lacquer” has traditionally been used in Japan. As the substance is poisonous to the touch until it dries, the creation of lacquer ware has long been practiced only by skilled dedicated artisans.

The world’s earliest lacquer ware products were discovered from a pit grave in Kakinoshima Site B, a site from the first half of the initial Jomon period (approx. 7,000 years ago), when people started settlements. Many artifacts of that time have been excavated, including 17 clay tablets with footprints as burial goods from pit graves of the latter half of the Initial Jomon period (5,000 BCE), a lacquered spouted vessel from the latter half of the Late Jomon period and censer-shaped pottery. These artifacts show a high level of technology, a mature society and a rich spiritual culture at that time.

To create different colours and textures, maki-e artists use a variety of metal powders including gold, silver, copper, brass, lead, platinum and other alloys. Bamboo tubes and soft brushes of various sizes are used for laying powders and drawing fine lines. As it requires highly skilled craftsmanship to produce a maki-e painting, young artists usually go through many years of training to develop the skills and to ultimately become maki-e masters. Kōami Dōchō (1410–1478), was the first lacquer master linked to specific works. His maki-e works used designs from various Japanese contemporary painters. Kōami and another maki-e master, Igarashi Shinsai, were originators of the two major schools of lacquer-making in the history of Japan.