Chopard

MTF
[PuristS]
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More explanation about Japanese lacquer work

GLau,

Reading the thread again, I agree that some more explanation is needed about the terminology.

Urushi: Lacquer from the sap of the Lacquer Tree.

Maki-e: "Sprinkled picture" artwork that is painted lacquer sprinkled with other substances like gold or silver or charcoal ash powder.

Raden: mother-of-pearl chips or powder that is inlaid on the wet lacquer.

The three main types of technique are:

1) Hira maki-e: Low lacquer work where the layers of lacquer and sprinkled substances are polished and burnished between layers.

2) Taka maki-e: Raised lacquer work with patterns built up with mixture of metal powder, lacquer, charcoal or clay dust etc to make it more dimensional.

3) Togidashi maki-e: Flat lacquer work can only be done on a perfectly clean and smooth surface. The surface has to be rubbed with urushi leaving no pores before togidashi maki-e can be started. Black lacquer without oil is painted over the metal powder decoration as an additional coat.

Shishiai togidashi maki-e

Hira maki-e is easier and simpler but somewhat monotonous.

Togidashi maki-e is colourful but flat.

Taka Maki-e has raised designs and is colourful but is still not the most complex.

Top artists can combine different methods into a art piece. For example, mountains in the distance need taka maki-e, while the sky needs togidashi maki-e. Trees in the foreground may be represented by taka maki-e and the sea or river may need togidashi maki-e. The difficulty here lies in burnishing flat and raised parts of the designs at the same time. This is where an artist show his/her mastery using the combination technique - shishiai togidashi maki-e.

The master who paints Chopard LUC urushi dials is Minori KOIZUMI under the auspices of 'National Living Treasure' - Master Kiichiro MASUMURA - at the Yamada Heiando Studio with the superlative watchmaking craft of Chopard Manufacture.   I made a mistake in the original posting and have corrected the name. The artist (Koizumi) travelled to Singapore to demonstrate the technique at Chopard boutique.  The thing about maki-e is that the value of art pieces goes up when the artist retires or leaves this mortal plane......

Regards,

MTF