National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Overall this bowl is composed of gentle curves with little pointing at the bottom, although the shoulders are slightly square. Since it was broken in half at the center, the shape is warped. This soku bowl was created by pasting pieces of cloth to a wooden mold with lacquer and when examined via fluoroscope, two layers of cloth were found. Although the middle coating was applied and transparent lacquer was applied thinly over the middle coat, it has turned dark brown.
The technique of soku is called kyocho in China, where it was already used in the Han period. In Japan, it was actively used for the creation of Buddha images during the Nara period and called kanshitsu (dry lacquer technique). However, very few examples of soku vessels currently exist and there is only one small bowl in the shape of a hexagonal flower among the treasures of Shosoin. While the number of cloths used for the small bowl is unknown, it is very thin. On the other hand, this bowl is approximately 3 to 4 mm thick. The texture can be seen on the surface and the areas inside the bowl where lacquer has come off show that the middle and final coats are not thick. However, according to observations made at repairs, it is clear that a thick undercoat was applied between cloth pieces. It is said that this bowl was used by Gyoshin Sozu.