update:February 27, 2012

THE ANCIENT CRAFT OF KAMAKURABORI

Preparing the materials

The wood used to make Kamakurabori comes from the katsura tree. After harvesting, it is cured and then line inking, cut, coarse lathed, weathered, and finally, carved and lacquered.

Many raw wood materials are used

A wide variety of wood materials are lathed, joined, hollowed and rooted and other cutting techniques are applied to create this versatile art form.

Line-inking

Designs and patterns that will later be carved are sketched in ink onto translucent sheets of Japanese paper and then the traced images are transferred onto dampened wood surfaces by rubbing.

Preliminary carving

The artist begins the formation of the piece by carving along the base lines of the patterns that have been transferred onto the wood surface, creating dimension, angle and perspective. 

Rough carving

Special, flat-headed knives are used to chip away portions of the surface to create a relief pattern, exposing the designs to be created by the artist.

Finish carving

Finish carving is added to the design to produce the trademark gouging effect known only to Kamakurabori art pieces.

Lacquering (foundation coating)

A raw sap "Urushi" base lacquer coat is applied to the freshly carved piece, where it soaks into the wood and forms a rich undercoating for the final lustrous finish.

Lacquering 

Following repeated coatings of the base lacquer coat, the surface is polished using fine-grained charcoal or other abrasive that creates a smooth surface.

Lacquering

A black lacquer is then applied in two coats followed by polishing with fine abrasives.

Lacquering

A vermilion lacquer is then applied to create the outer layer ,a reddish, highly translucent finish unique to Kamakurabori.

Lacquering

To temper the finish of Kamakurabori lacquer ware, powdered wet oatmeal is applied to give the finish a unique patina.

Lacquering (final polishing)

At the final stage, a thin layer of lacquer is applied and then wiped off, followed by a final polishing with powdered oat material.

This process is repeated until the perfect finish is achieved.

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