Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Chōnin                     Townsman or merchant

Daimyō                    ‘Feudal’ lord

Gō                             Art name

Fundame                  Matt gold lacquer ground made by sprinkling very finely ground  

                                   gold powder

Hirame                      Metallic particles, of graded sizes, used in lacquer decoration

Kakihan                    Artist’s written seal or ‘logo’

Kyō-yaki                   Pottery made in Kyōto

Maki-e                      ‘Sprinkled picture’ technique in which the design is built up by

                                  repeated alternating applications of coats of lacquer and     

                                  metallic dust

Mizusashi                A cold-water container used in the tea ceremony

Moriage                   Raised decoration

Nanga                      Lit. ‘Southern painting’ – Edo period (1600-1868) Japanese

                                 painting school derived from Chinese models.

Nashiji                    Technique of employing regular flattened flakes of gold dust

                                 buried in transparent lacquer – ‘aventurine’

Oshi-e                    Padded fabric picture

Oyatoi gaijin          A foreigner employed by the Japanese government to develop

                                 Japanese industry and art industry

Nunome-zōgan       Decorative application of metal sheeting (generally of gold or  

                                  silver) where the iron ground is first cross-hatched and the

                                  metal burnished on

Shakudō                   Dark pickled metal alloy of copper and gold

Shippō                       Lit. ‘Eight Treasures’ – cloisonné

Shibuichi                   Pickled allow of silver and copper

Sayagata                  Repeating background pattern of broken crosses or ‘swastikas’

Takamaki-e             ‘Sprinkled relief design’- technique in which motifs are built up

                                  using lacquer or lacquer mixed with other materials, prior to

                                  sprinkling with metal powders

Teishitsu gigeiin      Title: Imperial artist

Togidashi                 Technique in which the design in metal powders sprinkled over

                                   damp lacquer, is   permitted to harden, then entirely covered

                                   with lacquer and finally after hardening, polished with

                                   abrasives to re-expose the design

Tsuba                                  Sword guard

Tsutsugaki                         A method of resist dyeing, in which areas of cloth are painted

                                            with starch paste, applied through a bamboo tube (tsutsu), to

                                    protect them from the dye