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rō-iro
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Japanese box with “ardent lover” theme in togidashi on a rō-iro background, signed Katsukawa Shunshō, early 19th century. A young woman takes black tooth stain from a bowl held by her attendant and squirts from her lips the characters for “perseverance in love.” In the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 21.6 × 25 × 5 cm.
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rō-iro

Japanese lacquerwork
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Also known as: rō-iro nuri
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
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Article History

rō-iro, in Japanese lacquerwork, technique of coating with black lacquer, involving two major methods. Hana-nuri (or nuritate-mono) uses black lacquer that contains oil in order to impart a glossy finish to the article.

Rō-iro-nuri, used for the finest lacquerwork, uses black lacquer that can be burnished to a lustre. In the rō-iro-nuri technique, after several coatings, rō-iro-urushi (black lacquer without oil, made of translucent lacquer and iron colouring) is applied; when it is thoroughly dry, it is burnished with charcoal. This is relacquered, then polished with fine-grained charcoal and water. The next step is the suri-urushi process, applying raw lacquer with cotton and wiping it with crumpled rice paper. When the article has dried well, a little rapeseed oil is applied with cotton and polished lightly; burnt deerhorn powder or titanium is applied to remove the lacquer that had been applied in the suri-urushi stage. After the suri-urushi and polishing processes have been repeated several times, a brilliant glow is attained.

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maki-e
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maki-e

lacquerwork
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History

maki-e, (Japanese: “sprinkled picture”), lacquer ware on which the design is made by sprinkling or spraying wet lacquer with metallic powder, usually gold or silver, from a dusting tube, sprinkler canister (makizutsu), or hair-tipped paint brush (kebo). The technique was developed mainly during the Heian period (794–1185) to decorate screens, albums, inrō, letter boxes, and ink-slab cases. The oldest preserved piece is from 919.

Maki-e can be left to dry, as is maki-hanashi, or relacquered and polished (togidashi maki-e). It is frequently decorated with reed-style pictures (ashide-e) or combined with inlays of other metals or mother-of-pearl (raden). Hiramaki-e has a low-relief design, and takamaki-e has a high-relief design.

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