JAPAN
of taste always save the decoration from becoming meretricious. Shibayama himself was not unfaithful to true canons. But the later disciples of his school fall perpetually into the error of imagining that the chief ends to be attained are profusion of detail, an infinite display of manual dexterity, and brilliant wealth of material. The merit of magnificence cannot be denied to their works, but they can scarcely be called art lacquer.
There are some special varieties of lacquer which are too interesting to be left unnoticed. Two, well known to all collectors, are tsui-koku and tsui-shu. Both are similarly produced. The ground having been duly prepared in the orthodox method, coats of cinnabar and dark-brown lacquer are applied successively until a considerable thickness has been obtained, and then, while the lacquer is still soft, designs are cut into it, the channels made by the chisel being V-shaped, so that their sloping sides afford a plain view of the alternating layers of red and dark-brown lacquer. When the ultimate layer is dark-brown, the term tsui-koku is applied; when red, the term tsui-shu. Such works belong obviously to what are here classed as "artisan lacquers." Another variety of tsui-shu has a ground of incised arabesques or diapers, supporting a deeply chiselled decorative design of flowers, foliage, birds, insects, landscapes, etc. In such work the lacquer is not applied in alternating layers of red and black; it is usually pure red. Japanese artists have never been remarkable for successful production of this last variety of tsui-shu. The lac of China lends itself better to such purposes, and the choicest specimens are Chinese.[1]
- ↑ See Appendix, note 62.
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