SWORD-FURNITURE
teenth century and subsequent eras was called shishi-ai-bori, or niku-ai-bori. In this the surface of the design was not raised above the general plane of the field, but an effect of projection was obtained by recessing the whole space immediately surrounding the design or by enclosing the latter in a scarped frame. Again, in many sword-guards the design was modelled on both faces so as to be a complete sculpture. This fashion was always accompanied by chiselling à jour (sukashi-bori), so that the sculptured portions stood out in their entirety. All fully modelled work, whether for guards, menuki, or other purposes, was called maru-bori (round carving).
Inlaying with gold or silver was among the early forms of decoration. There were two principal kinds of inlaying: the first called hon-zōgan[1] (true inlaying); the second nunome-zogan (linen-mesh inlaying. As to the former, the Japanese method did not differ from that seen in the beautiful iron censers and vases inlaid with gold which the Chinese produced with notable success from the Shun-tieh era (1426–1436). In the surface of the metal the workman cut grooves wider at the base than at the top, and then hammered into them gold or silver wire. Such a process presents no remarkable features, except that it has been carried by Japanese experts to an extraordinary degree of elaboration. The nunome-zōgan is much more interesting. Suppose, for example, that the artist desires to produce an inlaid diaper. His first business is to chisel the surface in lines forming the basic pattern of the design. Thus, for a diamond petal diaper the chisel is carried across the face of the metal horizontally, tracing a number
- ↑ See Appendix, note 35.
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