atsugai-hō

Atsugai-hō is a Japanese decorative technique used in lacquerware and woodenware, involving the inlay of mother-of-pearl or abalone shells into the surface. This method, introduced from Tang China during the Nara period, has two primary approaches. One involves incising a pattern into the lacquered surface, inserting the shell, and then smoothing it after a final coating. The other method glues the shell onto the initial lacquer layer, followed by applying a mixture of clay powder and raw lacquer, and then burnishing the surface. This technique was refined over centuries, becoming a distinct Japanese style by the Heian period, often combined with maki-e decoration.1