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Kodaiji Makie,
The Lacquerware Encountered by
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| Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) achieved national unification in Japan, bringing an end to a long period of social and political turbulence and ushering in the early modern period. During this era, members of 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. Even daily tableware and furnishings were decorated in golden makie. Kodaiji 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, also beheld this bold and opulent expression of the Momoyama period and were enraptured by these resplendent objects. |
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Sake Decanter with Autumn Plants
Kyoto National Museum
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