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"Kuronuri Kikucho Maki-e Kashiki"
(Black Lacquered Cake Box with a Chrysanthemum and Bird Maki-e Design)
Circa early Taishou period
Box: h. 6.3 cm; 15.2 cm x 15.2 cm
Tray: h. 2.2 cm; 19.7 cm x 19.7 cm
Lacquer Artist: Iida Katsujiro
Maki-e Artist: Nishizuka Choko
Collection of Wajima Urushi Ware Commerce and Industry
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| The Establishment of Maki-e |
Maki-e techniques in the Wajima area are thought to have originated in Aizu with a Maki-e artist named Yasukichi, who came to Wajima and spread these techniques during the Bunsei period (1818 - 1829). The techniques were supposedly further developed by Hamasaki Sokichi at the end of the Edo period. At that time craftsmen were producing lacquerware for daily use by ordinary people. There wasn't any demand for ornamentation such as Maki-e
When the Meiji Restoration occurred, feudal lords' samurai and court nobles lost their positions, and the demand for lacquerware disappeared at the same time. As a result, other lacquerware production centers such as Kyoto, Edo (Tokyo), Owari (Nagoya), and Kaga (Kanazawa) quickly lost their prosperity. Yet Wajima Lacquerware, which had its own unique system of production and marketing, further increased production by taking advantage of new demand from the middle-class, who had gained power at the same time. By this time, Chinkin had become more elaborate and striking. Maki-e techniques in the Wajima area matured through the immigration of craftsmen who moved there from Nagoya and Kanazawa. Eventually, Wajima became one of the most distinctive high-class practical lacquerware production centers in Japan. |
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