BASIC URUSHI PAINTINGS
The base for Urushi paintings must be smooth and strong in order to have good Urushi painting, which will last thousands of years. When the base is ready for painting, the first painting uses Sabi, Urushi mixed with polishing powders, as its base painting and we call it Shita-nuri, the base painting. Then, Naka-nuri, the interim painting with Urushi is preparing for better Uwa-nuri, the finishing part of painting. The color of interim painting has to be selected according to the color of the finishing part of painting. All these works are usually done by Nu-shi, craftsmen of Urushi paintings, painting 7 times in average and it takes 2-3 weeks before the Nu-shi can send back the pens to our Maki-e sh, will do more Urushi painting works or Maki-e onto the pens.
All the prices in this section are valid until September 30, 2011, as all the prices may have to be adjusted from October 1st due to the dollar devaluation.
KURO-KESHI
(Polish the surface and paint with black Urushi to protect ebonite from tarnishing)
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Model |
MSRP
In U.S. |
KKR-21,
Genkai |
$1,100.00 |
KKR-2EC,
Mikado with clip |
$1,100.00 |
KKR-2E,
Mikado w/o clip |
$1,000.00 |
KKR-5,
Takumi with clip |
$800.00 |
KKR-10EC,
Densho with clip |
$1,000.00 |
KKR-9,
Hanryo with clip |
$600.00 |
| KKR-88,
Hakkaku (Octagonal) |
$900.00 |
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TAME-NURI
Basically,
Tame-nuri (Ta as tag, me as met ) uses Suki Urushi, transparent
(actually rather translucent) Urushi painted over the colored Urushi,
which was already painted as the interim layer. If the Shu (red)
Urushi was painted as the base color, and then, the transparent
Urushi is painted, it is called Shu Tame-nuri or Shu-dame. And if
Kuro (black) Urushi was painted first, and then, the transparent
Urushi was painted over it, it is called Kuro-dame. After the trasparnet
Urushi was painted, it will be finished by Togidashi or Hana-nuri.
Togidahi uses different materials for polishing and burnishing repeatedly
until the luster is brought out to the result they want. It is very
time consuming, painstaking work. Hana-nuri means painted without
those repeated working by polishing and burnishing in order to bring
the luster out. Instead, Hana-nuri uses oiled Urushi in the beginning
which helps the Urushi naturally shine after it is dried. Hana-nuri
is a much simpler method of Urushi painting, though it won't be
as shiny as the Urushi finished with Togidashi. This natural shiny
look is more popular than Togidashi especially among the tea ceremony
society in Japan.
We must decide in the beginning whether this Tame-nuri should be
finished with Togidashi or Hana-nuri, because if we want to finish
with Togidashi, oil free Urushi must be used, while oiled Urushi
should be used for Hana-nuri. The reason for this is because oiled
Urushi will help Urushi naturally shine, but it should not be used
when it needs to be polished or burnished. And oil free Urushi is
good for polishing and burnishing.
There is no 100% transparent Urushi. The clearest Urushi still has
a light brown or amber color. The interesting thing with Tame-nuri
is when the transparent Urushi is painted over the color Urushi,
the color will change because this transparent Urushi is NOT 100%
transparent like man-made "Urushi" which is 100% clear.
The specialness
of Urushi is that the Urushi has a layer of membrane and the color
of the layer will be lighter and shinier, and the Tame-nuri will
look lighter and shinier within several months to a year.
Our Tame-nuri collection has become very popular, because of the
matchless quality crafted by our Maki-e artist, Mr. Koichiro Okazaki.
On Mikado Pens.
(Eye dropper shut-off filling system with #8 18k gold nibs)
On Densho Pens.
(Eye dropper shut-off filling system with #6 18k gold nibs)
On Takumi Pens.
(Cartridge/Converter filling system with #6 18k gold nibs)
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Model |
MSRP
In U.S. |
Artist |
TA-21,
Genkai |
$1,600.00 |
Kogaku |
TA-2EC,
Mikado with clip |
$1,600.00 |
Kogaku |
TA-2E,
Mikado without clip |
$1,500.00 |
Kogaku |
TA-10EC,
Densho |
$1,300.00 |
Kogaku |
TA-5,
Takumi |
$1,200.00 |
Kogaku |
TA-9,
Hanryo |
$1,000.00 |
Kogaku |
TA-88,
Hakkaku (Octagon) |
$1,300.00 |
Kogaku |
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ROIRO-MIGAKI
Urushi finishing paintings have two different methods to complete it. One is Hana-nuri or Nuri-tate and the other is Roiro-migaki or Roiro-shiage. Hana-nuri: After Shita-nuri and Naka-nuri are finished. The best quality oiled Urushi is used to paint as its Uwa-nuri to finish Hana-nuri. The oiled Urushi has natural luster by itself when it is used for paintings and dried.
Roiro-migaki has the same Shita-nuri and Naka-nuri with the Hana-nuri, but oil-free Urushi, refined Urushi called Roiro-urushi is used for the final painting. After this, some special charcoal is used to burnish the surface repeatedly until the surface is shiny with luster. The work of burnishing is done differently by the craftsmen. The final finish takes a few days or more depending on the weather and humidity where the work is done.
Our Roiro-migaki
solid color Urushi-nuri is available on five different pens.
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Model |
MSRP
In U.S. |
Genkai RM 21 (All Color) |
$1,600.00 |
Mikado RM 2EC/ with clip (All Color) |
$1,600.00 |
Mikado RM 2E/ without clip (All Color) |
$1,500.00 |
Takumi RM 5 (All Color) |
$1,200.00 |
Densho RM 10 (All Color) |
$1,300.00 |
Hanryo RM 9 (All Color) |
$1,000.00 |
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