Sliding Doors with Ducks and Reeds [left of a pair] c. 19th century

This sliding door, part of a pair, was made by Shibata Zeshin, a 19th century Japanese artist, who worked with lacquer on wood. The choice of lacquer is really key here. It's not just about surface decoration, but about the whole philosophy of making. Lacquer is derived from tree sap, and its application is painstakingly slow, built up in many thin layers. The artist has masterfully blended the natural grain of the wood with painted imagery of ducks and reeds. Look at the rich texture, the almost three-dimensional quality. Zeshin was trained in both painting and lacquer techniques, and he was one of the first to treat lacquer as a medium for pictorial art, rather than just decoration. He blurred the boundaries between "high" art and craft. Consider the immense labor, the long hours of careful work embodied in this object. It's a reminder that art is not just about ideas, but about the intimate relationship between hand, material, and the passage of time.