Red Bowl with Golden Bamboo Decoration

The glossy orange-red hue of this contemporary red lacquer bowl offers a glimpse of what the Momoyama-period tray to the left may have looked like when it was first produced. The red lacquer is decorated with two bamboo stalks in slightly raised gold maki-e with black lacquer shadowing, surrounded by bunches of gold hiramaki-e leaves. The artist, Maehata Shunsai III, was awarded the title of Master of Traditional Arts (dentō kōgei shi) by the Japanese government, which throughout the 20th century has enacted a series of laws to protect and promulgate traditional arts and crafts, such as lacquerware.