Past Exhibitions
- Lacquered Cosmetic and Toiletry Implements
- February 11, 2020 - February 26, 2020
While it may seem strange today, cosmetics such as white face powder
(oshiroi) and teeth blackener (ohaguro) were used by both male and
female aristocrats in early Japan. For that reason, the luxurious toiletry
cases from the past were used not only by women but also by men.
Some were made for "use" by male or female Shinto gods. Lacquer
artisans produced customized utensils for everything from coiffing hair
to perfuming garments with incense.
Artisans decorated such wooden boxes and implements in the most
luxurious way possible by using the technique of makie, in which
patterns are made by sprinkling gold and silver powders onto wet
lacquer. By the Edo period (1615–1868), the newly wealthy members of
the merchant class were following the customs of the aristocratic and
warrior elite, ordering elaborate makie wedding trousseaus for their
daughters. These gorgeously embellished makie cosmetic and toiletry
implements must have been much coveted by young townswomen.