Mid 19th Century Japanese Lacquer Over Metal Vase

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Japanese Lacquer over metal vase
Shakudo overlay

Shakudō (赤銅) is a Japanese billon of gold and copper (typically 4–10% gold, … Read more Japanese Lacquer over metal vase
Shakudo overlay

Shakudō (赤銅) is a Japanese billon of gold and copper (typically 4–10% gold, 96–90% copper), one of the irogane class of colored metals, which can be treated to develop a black, or sometimes indigo, patina, resembling lacquer. Unpatinated shakudō visually resembles bronze; the dark color is induced by the niiro artificial patination process, involving boiling in a solution, generally including rokushō.

Materials like shakudo were historically thought to be specific to the Chinese and Japanese, and perhaps other Asian, milieu, but recent studies have noted close similarities to certain decorative alloys used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. See less