Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: About "Shôen-Neri" Pine Soot Lacquer

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Bern, Switzerland
    Posts
    553
    Thanks
    340
    Thanked 1,637 Times in 295 Posts
    Rep Power
    10

    Default About "Shôen-Neri" Pine Soot Lacquer

    History
    The history of Japanese ink (sumi) is said to have begun in 610 AD when the production methods were transmitted to Japan by a Korean monk named Damjing (Donchô in Japanese). Production of ink, essential for writing characters and recording text, moved to Nara with the relocation of the capital in the beginning of the 700s and has continued there for about 1,300 years since.

    Pine Soot Ink (Shôen Zumi)
    Even after the capital moved to the Kyoto area in 794, Nara remained a place of religious significance with many Buddhist temples. Much ink was needed for tasks such as sutra transcription, and there were abundant forest resources nearby to provide the carbon soot that is the ink’s raw material.

    Nara, therefore remained a site of high-quality ink production. In the Nara, Heian and Kamakura periods, shôen soot from pine, which has a high resin content was the preferred material for Nara ink. This was obtained by chopping pine wood into small pieces and burning it in a stove.

    Glue (Nikawa)
    Besides carbon soot, the other ingredient of traditional


    Japanese ink is animal-based glue (nikawa). This is extracted by boiling the dermis (the layer of skin below the
    epidermis) of an animal such as a cow or a deer. Nikawa is highly adhesive and is widely used as a bonding agent in traditional art forms. Sticks of ink are produced by mixing the soot with this glue and drying it. In addition, in order to ameliorate the unpleasant smell of the glue, fragrant substances such as musk, borneol or Japanese apricot blossom essence are added. This gives rise to a clean smell when the ink stick is rubbed down.

    Shôen-Neri
    In the old days only the finest quality lacquer ware have been lacquered with Pine Sooth Lacquer „Shôen Neri“, Urushi Lacquer mixed with Pine Sooth „Shôen Zumi“. Her the urushi serves as the strong glue for „Shôen Neri“ as „Nikawa“ for ink. While „Roiro Nuri“ Urushi Lacquer traditionally blackened with iron filings tended to turns into a brownish color with the years, „Shôen Neri“ stays black for ever.

    Shôen - Pine Soot - Carbon Black
    Shôen is the finest and most opaque pigment known today. The particles of the pigments measure between 30 to 80 nm only and 100% non-fading

    Manu Propria‘s Shôen-Neri is made from high quality urushi mixed with natural Pine Sooth from Japan.

    SHÔEN-1.jpgSHÔEN-2.jpgSHÔEN-3.jpgSHÔEN-4.jpgSHÔEN-5.jpg
    Last edited by Manupropria; August 22nd, 2018 at 09:32 AM.

  2. The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to Manupropria For This Useful Post:

    amk (August 25th, 2018), azkid (August 25th, 2018), da vinci (August 25th, 2018), fountainpagan (August 26th, 2018), Inky Poops (August 27th, 2018), Kulprit (August 22nd, 2018), penwash (August 25th, 2018), Robert (August 22nd, 2018), sampb (August 23rd, 2018)

  3. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Chartres, France
    Posts
    1,137
    Thanks
    2,610
    Thanked 825 Times in 446 Posts
    Rep Power
    13

    Default Re: About "Shôen-Neri" Pine Soot Lacquer

    Wow. Just wow.

  4. #3
    Senior Member azkid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Colorado, USA
    Posts
    2,016
    Thanks
    3,725
    Thanked 1,703 Times in 822 Posts
    Rep Power
    9

    Default Re: About "Shôen-Neri" Pine Soot Lacquer

    Stunning!

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •