Makie Box ”Kinsangindai（Narcisssus）”

"When I saw masses of narcissus blooming on the Echizen Coast during the winter, I thought they looked exactly like flowers in the snow. I used eggshells to express the flowers, and silver-palladium alloy powder to express the leaves.
On the top and sides of the box, I designed snowflakes to express the traces of winter.
I hope people who see this piece can feel the scent of blooming narcissus.

The sweet scent of narcissus have charmed people from long ago.
As the yellow crown on the white flower petals looks like a golden sake cup placed on a silver sake cup table, narcissus is also called kinsangindai in Japanese, meaning ""gold cup, silver table"", and is known as a flower suitable for auspicious occasions. "

• Dry lacquer

  For works of dry lacquer (kanshitsu), first a clay form is created and plaster is used to take a mold of the form. Next, repeated layers of hemp cloth and lacquer are applied to the mold until they are built up to the desired thickness. Finally, the mold is removed and additional coats of lacquer are applied to finish the piece. The hemp fibers are strengthened when the lacquer bonds with them, making dry lacquer an excellent technique for creating sturdy forms with a significant degree of freedom.

• Urushi-e

  Urushi-e (“lacquer pictures”) is a decorative technique that consists of motifs painted in colored lacquer. Urushi-e is the oldest and most fundamental decorative lacquer technique.

• Maki-e

  Maki-e (literally “sprinkled pictures”) is a representative lacquerware technique that originated in Japan around 1,200 years ago. Maki-e is done by painting lacquer motifs on the surface of a piece using a fine brush and then sprinkling gold powder onto the lacquer before it hardens, producing luxurious decorations.

• Metal sheet inlay

  Metal sheet inlay (hyōmon) is a technique that involves cutting shapes out of thin sheets of gold, silver, or other metals to create an inlay motif.

• Mother-of-pearl inlay (Raden)

  Mother-of-pearl inlay (Raden) is a decorative technique that uses the iridescent inner layer of abalone shell, turban shell, pearl oyster shell, or other mollusk shells. The technique came to Japan from China 1,300 years ago, and pieces featuring mother-of-pearl inlay are included among the artifacts at the Shōsōin Repository in Nara.

• Eggshell inlay

  Eggshell inlays (rankaku) are created by applying finely crushed eggshells to painted lacquer motifs. The eggshells make it possible to create vivid whites, a color that is difficult to reproduce with colored lacquer. Normally, the shells of quail eggs are used.