Lot Essay
The thinly-sliced blue/green slivers of shell on the first piece, reveal red lacquer beneath, so that the petals of the blossom appear red or iridescent according to the angle at which the surface is held to the light.
The gold clouds on the second piece, are actually below the level of the tetsu-ji [iron ground] which is probably to simulate hirazogan metalwork. As the brushstrokes forming the clouds are visible, this technique seems to have involved painting the clouds into a ground in togidashi and then applying the tetsuji by painting up the clouds and leaving them as "windows" in the ground.
The gold clouds on the second piece, are actually below the level of the tetsu-ji [iron ground] which is probably to simulate hirazogan metalwork. As the brushstrokes forming the clouds are visible, this technique seems to have involved painting the clouds into a ground in togidashi and then applying the tetsuji by painting up the clouds and leaving them as "windows" in the ground.