One of the attractions of lacquer is its transparency.
In fact , lacquer material continues to change once it solidifies.
Firstly, immediately after solidifying, it forms a somewhat rubber-like moist film coating.
It then hardens as the months and years go by, forming a crisp, hard film coating.
I do not think that the feel of using it, as lacquerware, really changes, but when working with it, the film coating that has sat for several years becomes hard, and the polishing work takes time.
Next, there is discoloration, and this is particularly evident.
With black lacquerware, the change is not so noticeable, but, with red, the transparency of the lacquerware increases and the coloring of the pigment improves.
Further, with the gold lacquer works as well, the coloring of the gold is enhanced as well, sinking into the background through transparency.
I will introduce you to a photo that appeared when I moved house.
Compare the wing section in these photos of a gold lacquer cicada.
The left shows immediately after the gold lacquering, which was in my student days so about 12 years ago, and the right is a current picture.
If you compare the two, you can see that the wings on the right have changed into a much brighter gold color.
This section uses a gold lacquering technique known as satin finish(Nashiji), and it involves applying layer after layer of lacquer with good transparency on top of gold dust.
This technique allows you to peer at the gold through the amber color of the lacquer and can said to be a method that enables you to easily see the quality of the lacquer.
As it is a tool I use every day, I was not really conscious of it. However, I never expected it to be as bright as this in 10 years.
Even creators like myself are moved every day by the material that is lacquer.