Maki-e: metal powder held in lacquer

The maker draws on a lacquered surface with lacquer and applies powder to the receptive design. Metal, particle shape and application affect the result. Gold is only one material: the Nara National Museum glossary also identifies silver, copper and tin. Maki-e is therefore more specific than painting an object with gold-coloured paint.

In hira maki-e, powder adheres to the lacquer design and is finished with little relief. Togidashi maki-e covers the powdered design with lacquer, then polishes the surface to reveal it again. Taka maki-e builds up selected areas before decorating them. A single object can combine approaches; these names describe working methods rather than three price grades.

Raden uses pieces of shell, while hyōmon uses shaped metal sheet. Both may appear beside maki-e on the same object. Looking for the edges of an inset shell, the outline of sheet metal and the texture of powder helps separate techniques that can all catch the light. A sparkling box need not have been decorated by one method throughout.

Early techniques and medieval development

Early forms occur in Nara-period lacquer decoration; Heian examples include furnishings and sutra containers. Kyoto Prefecture’s craft account places the development of raised and shishiai maki-e in the Kamakura–Muromachi periods. Shishiai combines raised and polished-flat areas within one surface. Temples and aristocratic patrons employed specialist makers. In the Momoyama period, Kōdai-ji decoration used flat maki-e for autumn grasses, while export lacquerware combined powder decoration and shell inlay on objects for European clients. Edo work developed further refinements.

Urban workshops and Rinpa designs

During the Edo period, wealthy townspeople also used maki-e objects, extending the market beyond religious institutions and warrior patrons. The Kyoto maker Nagata Yūji studied Ogata Kōrin’s work and adapted Rinpa designs to paper boxes, writing boxes and tableware, signing his objects. His eighteenth-century box decorated with trees and deer, held by Kyoto National Museum, illustrates continuity through a workshop’s reinterpretation of earlier designs.

The Hatsune furnishings were made for Chiyohime’s marriage into the Owari Tokugawa family in 1639. They include a writing desk, a box for poetry papers and incense utensils, with designs drawing on The Tale of Genji. One decorative programme connects objects with different jobs. After the Meiji Restoration, the loss of shogunal and domain patronage was followed by new opportunities in exports and international exhibitions.

Maki-e was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1955. The designation recognises the craft skill, while individual lacquer objects may have their own cultural-property designations. Preparing a surface, applying powders, adding lacquer layers and finishing the design are parts of the knowledge used to make it.