Used for thousands of years in Japan to coat objects from crockery to furniture and buildings, urushi is the purified sap of the Asian lacquer tree. When dry, the lacquer is both heat and water resistant, providing protection and strength to underlying materials, very often wood, but also bamboo, paper or leather. In Japanese lacquerware itself can be referred to as urushi as well as shikki (lit. “urushi vessel”), and with the development of acrylic resin in the last century, objects coated in synthetic lacquers, such as food-safe polyurethane, are considered urushi/shikki too. Pure urushi is transparent, while the black and red lacquers most associated with urushi are achieved with the addition of mineral pigments. Over this traditional decorative details such as gold maki-e “sprinkled pictures” or raden “shell inlay” can also be applied.
Tea Tray
Keura Sumi M
SKU
5348
Yoshi En has recently grown out of Sunday Natural to become an independent premium tea store. As part of this transition, some products may still be shipped in Sunday Natural packaging.
A circular obon tea tray with raised edges, hand-turned from a single piece of wood and coated in black urushi lacquer. Made by Gato Mikio, an award-winning Japanese woodworking atelier with over a hundred year's history, based in Yamanaka Onsen: an area long renowned for its fine lacquerware.
| Contents | Black lacquered tea tray |
| Studio/Artist | Gato Mikio |
| Origin | Yamanaka, Ishikawa, Japan |
| Dimensions |
Ø24 x 4cm
|
| Material | Kalopanax septemlobus |
| Finish | Polyurethane |
| Artist's mark | Brand logo on base |
In stock
Producer
In 1908, master woodturner Komakichi Gato founded his woodworking plant in Yamanaka Onsen – an area with a rich history of making kiji: the plain wooden vessels on which urushi lacquers are applied. Now in their fourth generation, GATO MIKIO is committed to preserving Yamanaka lacquerware traditions by carefully adapting them to modern life. Working in collaboration with contemporary Japanese product designers, GATO MIKIO's international award-winning tableware elegantly marries the past to the present.
The KEURA collection is designed together with Satoshi Umeno. Meaning beauty and elegance, the name Keura is taken from a quote in the ancient Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, in which the protagonist, Princess Kaguya, is discovered as a baby inside a glowing stalk of bamboo. Accordingly the collection is straight and slender like bamboo, taking simplicity to the limits to ensure a soft touch.
