Wajima-nuri Chabako Tea Box Set Senmen Fan Maki-e by Maeda Toshio

A complete chabako in Wajima-nuri lacquer — senmen maki-e fans drift across tame-nuri amber surfaces, each one rendered in gold, green, and crimson with the quiet density of a master lacquer craftsman's hand. Made by Maeda Toshio of Wajima, this tea box holds everything needed for an intimate gathering: tea bowl, whisk stand, natsume caddy, and chashaku, all nested within lacquered walls that glow with the warmth of layered urushi.

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🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]
• Chabako (茶箱) — portable tea ceremony box, complete set
• Lacquer: Wajima-nuri with tame-nuri (transparent amber lacquer) finish
• Decoration: Senmen (folding fan) maki-e in gold, green, red, and polychrome
• Artist: 前田利生男 (Maeda Toshio), Wajima lacquer craftsman
• Includes: Tea bowl (gray speckled stoneware), chasen holder, natsume (tea caddy), chashaku (tea scoop)
• Comes with tomobako (signed wooden storage box)
• Dimensions: Approx. H13cm × W21.5cm × D14.5cm
• Condition: Good condition
• SKU: 260227_a_2100

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🔹 [ CULTURAL INSIGHT ]
The chabako emerged as the traveler's answer to the tea room — a self-contained world of chanoyu that could be carried to a mountain temple, an autumn garden, or a quiet veranda. Every element is chosen to work in concert, and the box itself becomes the architectural frame for the gathering.

Wajima-nuri, produced in the coastal city of Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture, represents one of Japan's most demanding lacquer traditions. The process involves over 120 individual steps, including the application of jinoko (diatomaceous earth) mixed with raw urushi to build extraordinary durability. Wajima lacquerware is designated as a Traditional Craft of Japan (伝統的工芸品), and its practitioners carry forward techniques refined across centuries.

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🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE: TAME-NURI & SENMEN MAKI-E ]
Tame-nuri is a lacquer technique in which transparent urushi is applied over a pigmented undercoat — typically a reddish-brown base — allowing the underlayer to breathe through the surface with a warm, luminous depth that deepens with age. Unlike the mirror-black of roiro-nuri, tame-nuri invites the eye inward, suggesting layers of time held within the surface.

The senmen (扇面) motif — scattered folding fans — carries centuries of meaning in Japanese decorative arts. Fans symbolize expanding fortune, the unfolding of auspicious events, and the passage of seasons. Here, Maeda Toshio has rendered each fan with distinct seasonal imagery and vivid polychrome maki-e, using gold powder, colored lacquer, and precise brushwork to create a field of floating celebration across every surface of the box. The effect is both festive and composed — abundance expressed with discipline.

The complete set within — a speckled stoneware tea bowl suggesting the earthy quietude of Korean-influenced Japanese ceramics, paired with lacquered implements — transforms this chabako from a storage vessel into a portable tea universe.

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🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]
前田利生男作、輪島塗の茶箱一式。溜塗の温かな琥珀色の地に、扇面蒔絵が四面に展開されています。金・緑・朱の色漆で描かれた扇には四季の草花が宿り、輪島の伝統技法が息づく逸品です。茶碗・茶筅筒・棗・茶杓を備えた完品で、共箱付。輪島塗は120以上の工程を経る日本屈指の漆芸であり、地の粉下地による堅牢さと溜塗の経年美が、使い込むほどに深まります。

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🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ]
• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days
• Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking)
• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials