KINMA LACQUER WARE

Evolution and Tradition

The origins of kinma production go back to Malaysia, India, Myanmar ( it is a medicinal herb belonging to the pepper family and the fragrance is emitted pleasantly on tasting). In Japan the Piper Kadzura Ohwi plant or, kinma leaves are used as digestive medicine in Chines Kanpo medicine, expectorants, fragrance and flavoring.

And with the roasting of the leaves, addition of salt, and removal of water, followed by the insertion of the wrapped mixture into containers, it enjoyed popularity when eaten with Betel palm tree seeds and it could also be recommended as a custom in the same vein as smoking tobacco or drinking tea.

The Betel palm tree seed was called 'maku' and is also recognised in the slang 'kin' meaning chew. When chewed with kinma leaves, this action is expressed as 'kin-maku', the 'ku' sound blended naturally with the 'kinma' word which eventually resulted in the container being known as 'kinma.'

In the beginning, this container was a bamboo box but because of the leaking of fruit pulp and powder, a mixture containing lacquer hardener enabled the crevices inthe bamboo weave to be blocked.

Following this, engravings and patterns were made and colored, each step employing various elaborate processes resulting in splendid pieces. Burmese craftmenship crossed over to Thailand and upon further development spread further to Anman (or Vietnam) and China where kinma artistry made fast progress gaining status as picturesque forms oflacquer art.

Kinma lacquer ware reached Japan around the middle of the Muromachi Period and it is said the history began with Japanese pirates who brought home tea utensils and incense cases from the coast of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and China. Since then, kinma came to be highly valued as objects of southern descent. In Rikkyu's 'Tea Chronicles', 'kinmade' is written in the Japanese syllabic kana form and pieces were treasured among tea aficionados.

From the Azuchi-Momoyama Period to the Kanei Era when trade with the South became popular, it was reported that Saburo and Jiro Chaya, active as commercial traders brought back rare pieces from the southern areas of Vietnam together with kinma miniature boxes and various utensils.

At that time, kinma was written in 'kana' but in later periods tea practioners and utensil retailers frequently used the horse pattern on memorandums, box sheets and chronicles due to the proposal of a tea chronicles dilletante. In this way the 'gold horse' Chinese symbols came to be written.

THE ORIGINS OF KINMA

Tamakaji's first piece utilising the Chinese letters of kinma came about in the 7th year of the Kanei Period and according to feudal order, the 'kinma varnished paper box and brush case' was seen as a magnificent piece surpassing the technical artistry and achievements of even its Chinese counterparts. At present in Japan, it is designated as an important artistic object.

In this way, Tamakaji took the artistry of the first Japanese kinma pieces and handed it down to his younger brother Kokusai Fujiwara who also built on the heritage of Kagawa kinma. With the second generation Ransai, and third generation Fujiwara, many highly valued pieces remained as part of the family industry.

THE TECHNIQUES OF KINMA

Sharp knives with special blades engrave the lines of patterns followed by color application, drying, grinding with charcoal and removal of excess lacquer. Only the color of the engraved pattern remains and the painted layer of the uppermost surface attains a flatness.

The engraving of the painted surface resembles the surface decoration process of 'chinkin' but the difference lies in the early stages where only the lines which will have red lacquer inlaid are engraved and filled with red lacquer. Next only the lines which will be blue are engraved in the same way and filled with blue colour and so the process is repeated for each color.

Finally the surface is laid flat , burnished, and polished. It should be said that delicacy, sumptuousness and grace are kinma lacquer ware's ultimate achievement.

A multiple variety of design exists including 'Sanuki karakusa' with its unique classic motifs and the modern lacquer ware artists' designs of 'kokibori' and 'tenbori' with their modern tones. According to the combinations of techniques, different variations are created and the quality of the pieces produced by the numbers of Kagawa artists here are of extremely high standard.

Originally, through the line engravings on kinma, expression was limited to the surface, but at the end of the Taisho Period, Joshin Isoi enlightened by a hint from photographic printing, proposed the method of spot engraving. According to the density of the size of small or large spots, light and shade could be created and definition of solidity transformed.

In 1946, Isoi was selected by the Ministry of Education as a living national treasure and in 1952 kinma artistry was designated as an important cultural treasure with the special method of Sanuki lacquering being employed in numerous pieces for exhibitions and traditional craft exhibits which competed for outstanding achievement in beauty. In 1976, with the acknowledgement of traditional craft industry production promotion legislation, Kagawa was designated as an important region of production by the nation.