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Although Negoro-nuri originally referred only to lacquerware produced at the Negoro temple, it is now applied to all similar lacquerwares of comparably high quality, irrespective of their place of production. This use of 'Negoro' as a term of approbation demonstrates just how highly lacquerwares made during the temple's heyday were esteemed for their combination of utility and beauty. Put at their simplest, the chief characteristics of the red lacquerware we call 'Negoro' are ability to withstand frequent use, beauty of form and the manner in which this beauty is enhanced by the combination of an undercoat of black lacquer and a final coat of red lacquer. Careful selection of materials in conformity with function is indispensable for solidity, but the solidity of Negoro lacquer does not derive merely from the strength of the materials used in its manufacture. These functional, easy-to-use objects were made to look beautiful, and because they were beautiful they were used. They were designed with the needs of their future users in mind and their creators' determination to make them both as practical and as attractive as possible only served to enhance their formal strength and refined aesthetic.
The objects generally described as 'Negoro' are of many different types, but all of them were designed for actual day-to-day use. Negoro lacquer was never produced solely for aesthetic admiration and is never adorned with excessive decoration that would compromise its functionality. Rather, it is characterised by simplicity and clarity. Negoro ware's three most distinctive qualities - its feeling of strength, born of its simple shapes and its black and red hues, the warmth of its lacquered surfaces, and its use of timber, a material that has been totally assimilated into Japanese life - blend to produce an aesthetic that both reflects the traditional genius for sculptural form and possesses a powerful appeal for contemporary viewers.
The lacquered surface epitomises the beauty of Negoro. Red and black lacquer creates an ever-changing beauty that can only be brought out through use and is transfigured by the passage of time. Features such as wear, cracks, damage, splits, traces of the brush used for lacquering, and even flaws in both wood and textile covering due to shrinkage caused by dryness can all help to enhance the ineffable, harmonious beauty of the surface of Negoro lacquer. It is precisely because of this sense of a mature beauty enhanced by the passing of the centuries that Negoro lacquer is so appreciated by tea masters and admired by people of refined taste.
Kawada Sadamu, Professor at the Graduate School of Humanities, Tezukayama University, Nara, Japan
A Negoro Octagonal Cup
MUROMACHI PERIOD (15TH CENTURY)
Details
A Negoro Octagonal Cup
Muromachi Period (15th Century)
Of assembled wood with ringed foot, of octagonal form with slightly everted rim, the red lacquer worn away in places revealing the black lacquer beneath
7.2cm.
Muromachi Period (15th Century)
Of assembled wood with ringed foot, of octagonal form with slightly everted rim, the red lacquer worn away in places revealing the black lacquer beneath
7.2cm.