ALEXCIOUS

Coffee, Soup or Dessert in a Pretty Urushi-lacquered Vessel?

Perfect for daily use, these beautifully crafted, genuine wood cups finished in Wajima Kirimoto’s heritage urushi-lacquer are absolutely stable on flat surfaces, and stack up delightfully.

Unlikely though it is that you’ve seen this type of cup before, there are several advantages to using a cups made of wood and lacquer. Firstly, natural wood is an excellent insulator that does not allow much heat to pass through, thereby allowing hot drinks to be held safely. Secondly, as condensation does not form on the surface when filled with cold drinks, tables don’t get wet when the cup is put down.

The secret of hardwearing Wajima lacquer ware

Of all the types lacquer ware created in Japan, Wajima has a special reputation for strength and durability made possible by a material found only in the area. Some say "the gods" told Wajima craftsmen where to find it…

As it was developed for utilitarian use, Wajima lacquer ware is robust. The secret of this strength lies in the great deal of effort that goes into the “shitaji” base coat stages. First of all, raw lacquer is soaked into the bare wood to harden it. Then, cloth is attached to those parts that might be easily damaged followed by the seams being filled again with lacquer. After this comes the application of a material unique to Wajima lacquer ware, something called “jinoko,” made from diatomaceous earth, which has very special properties. The earth is mixed with lacquer in varying consistencies to make one rough coat, followed by one less rough coat and finally a fine coat. Between each coat the surface is burnished so that the next coat will adhere well. While a total of nine coats are applied to each piece of Wajima lacquer ware, the jinoko coats are especially important in ensuring its durability.

Urushi Lacquer - A Living Substance

Urushi is the sap of a tree (Rhus verniciflua), and is in no way connected to the smelly stuff made in petrochemical plants, sold in little cans, and used to paint bicycles and model cars. (Both substances share the quality of having a high gloss, however, which is why both are called "lacquer.") Japanese urushi lacquer is a living substance, even after it has been refined and pigmented and applied in numerous coatings to a wooden core.

Urushi Preparation & Application

After the sap has been harvested from the urushi tree, it is aged for three to five years and then processed to form a number of lacquer types with different properties.

When urushi is applied as a thin coating over a (usually wooden) core, it undergoes a chemical hardening process (very different from evaporative drying) in conditions of high humidity and temperature. A hardened urushi coating repels water and resists acid, alkali, salt, and alcohol. It even insulates against heat and electricity. The impervious yet resilient surface, a surface that is terribly strong yet soft to the touch, has given lacquer ware its appeal over the millennia.