I. Makie from Early to Medieval Japan

Makie (literally, "sprinkled picture") is an art form that produces multiple effects from a limited set of costly materials, such as gold and silver, and that involves complex labor-intensive processes. Makie originated but later died out on the Asian continent, developed into several distinctive styles in Japan. During the early and medieval periods in Japan, only the privileged —members of the imperial court, temples and shrines, and nobility—could own objects in Makie. This section explores the history of this art form in Japan, prior to its production for export, through outstanding works from the tenth to sixteenth century.

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II. Kôdaiji Makie: The Lacquerware Encountered by the Europeans

The year of 1543, the European came to Japan for their first time. It was during this time that the burgeoning samurai class competed against each other to build impressive castles and temples, decorating their interiors with wall paintings in bright pigments and gold foil and architectural elements decorated in Makie. Kôdaiji makie was created as a response to the intensification of the demand to appease the warlord's taste for the ostentatious. The Europeans, who came to Japan, beheld this bold and opulent expression of the Momoyama period and were enraptured by these resplendent objects, which they saw for the first time.

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III. Nanban Lacquerware: Decorative Arts in the Age of Exploration

From the mid-sixteenth century on, European missionaries hoping to propagate Christianity and traders dreaming of quick fortune successively arrive upon the shore of Japan. The Japanese called these people nanbanjin ("Southern Barbarians").
While the Europeans introduced new cultural artifacts and products to Japan, they were also captivated by the beauty of makie and commissioned various works in makie, such as Christian liturgical utensils and Western furniture, which were completely different from traditional Japanese furnishings. They took these commissioned works back to their own country or imported them to other countries, thus emerged nanban shikki, or Nanban lacquerware.

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IV. "Red-hair" Lacquerware: Makie in the Palaces of the Absolute Monarchs

In the result of the isolationist policy by Tokugawa government in seventeenth century, only Dutch and Chinese were officially allowed to maintain trade relations. These political changes affected the style of lacquerware produced for export. The heavy use of mother-of-pearl inlay decreased, while pictorial designs with large open spaces came to be prevalent. This new style, which replaced Nanban lacquerware, was called kômô shikki ("red-hair" or Dutch lacquerware). With the creation of Kômô lacquerware, the popularity of makie in the West grew ever larger. Works in Japanese makie did not merely serve decorative purposes for the interior; they symbolized wealth and power. From around this period, European craftsmen began producing Baroque and Rococo furniture fitted with Japanese works in makie.

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V. The Vogue of Makie and Chinoiserie

Due to the fascination with the East, which resulted in the vogue of chinoiserie, a taste for things Asian, makie was made part of the interior décor for European palaces and castles in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. The Europeans added their own utopian ideals and created their own images of what they conceived to be an unknown East. Desire with curiosity and aspiration were the driving forces behind the craze for chinoiserie. The taste for Eastern commodities did not simply mean the passive reception of Asian culture and objects but also involved the incorporation of these cultural products into Europe's own tradition. Works imported from the East became the base for chinoiserie motifs, whose popularity then determined the style of objects that came to be exported from the East.

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VI. Grand European Collections and Kyoto Lacquer Shops

The French queen Marie Antoinette's (1755-1793) makie collection is the largest and finest in Europe. Her collection not only consisted of small lacquered objects made for export but also refined pieces that were in demand by the Japanese. Today, the core of makie collections in Japan consists of works that were made to order. Although Edo-period makie produced for the general domestic market have been included among these works, most of these have been thought to date to the nineteenth century or later. Similar works in overseas collections, starting with Marie Antoinette's small lacquered objects, however, have revealed the existence of makie that were sold in town during the mid-Edo period. Hence, the major European collections have acted as a kind of time capsule for objects that were sold in Kyoto lacquer shops.

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VII. The Road Leading to World Fairs

The absolute monarchs in Europe met with demise by the mid-nineteenth century. Much of the fortunes of the royalty and titled nobility were dispersed through auctions. Newly emerged bourgeoisie took to Makie as exemplified by the vogue for things Asian during the age absolute monarchy. Concurrently, in Japan, the collapse of the Tokugawa government led to a sharp decline in domestic demand for makie and the loss of employment for many makie artisans. However, some artisans turned to producing lacquerware for export and the 300-year-old history of exporting lacquerware and devising innovations for international trade found for them as a means of survival.

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