Collection: Mother of pearl work

It is a decorative technique mainly used in traditional crafts such as lacquerware, in which the iridescent pearly part inside a shell is polished thinly and cut into various patterns, then inlaid into the carved surface of a lacquer or wooden base. It also refers to crafts made using this technique. "Raku" means shell, and "den" means to inlay. Not only shells, but also amber, tortoiseshell, and pieces of metal are used as mother-of-pearl, but it is not called mother-of-pearl when gold and silver are used. The shells commonly used are abalone, Kawashinjugai (blue shell), Yakogai (luminous shell), Schirokkogai (white butterfly shell), and Akoya oysters, and in some cases the shell pieces are further carved after inlaying.