Lacquer
inrō
From Japan
18th century
AD
Red lacquer in
guri style
arabesques
Guri
was a lacquer carving technique which originated in China. A number
of layers of lacquer of different colours was built up and when
these were carved through in intertwined whorls, the different
colours were revealed. The matching
netsuke, of the
manju type (that is, in
the shape of a rice dumpling), is also decorated with
whorls.
L. Smith, V. Harris and T. Clark, Japanese art: masterpieces in (London, The British Museum Press, 1990)
L. Smith and V. Harris, Japanese decorative arts from (London, The British Museum Press, 1982)