Red Urushi Lacquered Tea caddy

Name: Red Urushi Lacquered Tea caddy
SKU: 514
Availability: InStock

200,00 €

Tea caddy, dark red urushi decorated with a golden fan on the lid, XX Century

1 in stock

Categories: Lacquerware, Tea Caddy Tags: Lacquerware, Matcha, Matcha Natsume, Tea Caddy, Urushi

Description

Tea caddy, dark red urushi lacquered matcha natsume decorated with a golden fan on the lid, XX Century. This matcha natsume tea caddy is finished in a rich, dark red urushi lacquer. The lid is adorned with a delicate golden fan motif, applied using gold leaf. Smooth, rounded, and finely crafted, the natsume is both functional and ornamental, central to the Japanese tea ceremony. Comes with its original wooden box with signature and stamp.

Additional information

Weight	0,22 kg
Dimensions	6 × 6 × 7 cm
Age	XX Century
Material	Lacquer

Japanese Lacquer

Japanese Urushi Lacquerware

Real Japanese lacquerware uses sap from the urushi tree. It’s not varnish, not shellac, not resin. Urushi hardens by humidity, not air, and once cured it’s tough, chemical-resistant, and slightly elastic.

Layered construction

Every Japanese piece of lacquerware is built up through many thin layers of lacquer, often over a wooden core. Each layer is cured, polished, then coated again. This is why good lacquer has depth and brightness.

Surface refinement and finish

Whether glossy (roiro), matte, or textured, the surface is deliberate and controlled. Even simple black lacquer is about precision, not decoration. Sloppy edges, pooling, or uneven thickness are dead giveaways of cheap work.

Lacquerware decoration

Techniques such as maki-e, gold leaf or nashiji are not just applied on top of the urushi, they’re embedded into the lacquer layers. With urushi lacquerware decoration is structural and represents centuries of tradition through technique.