Antique Japanese Maki-e Lacquered Rice or Soup Bowls Set of Ten

These bowls are incredibly beautiful Japanese utilitarian art. The bowls themselves are called owan and it is used to serve soup such as miso shiru or rice. Many bowls are lidded; however, these are not. The bowl form is carved from a single block of wood and can take as long as five years to complete carving as it must be done very slowly to prevent cracking and warping. After achieving the final form, they are left to dry for one more year. They are then given multiple lacquered coats with urushi lacquer, which is highly poisonous when wet, and takes a great amount of time since they must dry fully between coats. At this time being turned over to the maki-e lacquer artist for their decorative and symbolic designs. What a mind-blowing process but they are magnificent. The ten bowls are in colors of cinnabar red, dark green, black, and gold; with hand painted designs of cherry blossoms, bamboo, Japanese iris, butterflies, and koi. You need to make these precious pieces of antiquity yours.