himself, but for this exhibition he has given
up some of his creative autonomy to more
than 20 craftspeople in Wajima. They are
producing the furniture series and a couple of
large Wajima-nuri ‘Pillow’ bowls according to
Lamb’s design. ‘The level of skill is extremely
high,’ he says. ‘I wanted to celebrate the local
artisans by handing over the entire process to
them; from log to finished furniture.’ Some
of the workers only do under or middle coats;
others specialise in the final polishing, known
as roiro. The ‘Urushi Pillow’ bowls alone, with
production methods closest to traditional
Wajima-nuri, involved ten people.
The bulk of the collection features roughly
split, local noto-hiba (a kind of Japanese
cypress similar to hinoki, also known as ate
in the local dialect) planks that have been
joined together to create simple pieces of
furniture, such as the ‘Urushi Twin’ benches
(both made from the same trunk), three- and
four-legged stools, a chest and bookshelves,
and finished in various shades of urushi
lacquer. In addition to the ‘Urushi Pillow’‘I always start with the material
and then design the furniture’
bowls, there is also the large, colourful
‘Urushi Pillow’ table, likewise finished
in a combination of colourful urushi by
master craftsman Hiroshi Nakakado.
The actual making of the pieces is based
on trust between Lamb and the craftspeople.
‘I always start with the material and then
design the furniture that will fit the material,’
says Lamb. His sketches are therefore pretty
fuzzy in terms of exact dimensions, and
he trusts the judgement of the Wajima
craftspeople to interpret his vision.
And it’s this wonderful collaborative
process, from the splitting (known as hegi
in Japanese) of the wood by Mitsuru Kurata
to the final urushi top coat by Matsuo
Hikimochi, that really makes the pieces shine.
Everyone involved brings their own speciality
to the final piece, and the result is a testament
to the skills of the Wajima craftspeople
and Lamb’s understanding of the art. ∂
‘Urushi Wajima’, 14 September-26 October,
Gallery Fumi, 2 Hay Hill, London W1,
galleryfumi.com; maxlamb.orgTOP LEFT, ‘URUSHI TWIN’
BENCH LEGS LEFT TO DRY AT
THE TSUTAYA WORKSHOP
TOP RIGHT, THE COMPLETED
‘URUSHI SPLIT’ CABINET AT
THE HIKIMOCHI WORKSHOP
ABOVE, SOME COMPLETED
‘URUSHI PILLOW’ BOWLS162 ∑
Design