Japan's craftsmen made lacquerware of a quality broadly comparable to that of their Chinese cousins and proved to be strong competitors for the rich export market.

In the foreground is the lacquerware itself which is well appreciated as an art work across the world.

Kim has been good at working with both "najeon" or mother-of-pearl and "chilgi" or lacquerware since he began learning the crafts at 14 in Tongyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, home to nacre craftwork because of its abundance of high-quality, multi-shaded, lustrous sea shells.

With prices barely changed since Japan's economic stagnation of the 1990s, 'in absolute terms Japanese art is very keenly priced', with lacquerware 'particularly good value'.

Taiwanese lacquer art, according to Taiwanese lacquer expert Liang Chih-wei, has developed a unique character under the influence of Japanese crafts, Korean pearl-inlaid lacquerware, and Vietnamese lacquer renowned for its employment of crushed egg shells.

Sake served in bamboo smells fragrant but also tastes good in porcelain, earthenware or lacquerware.

Forget those boring buffet platters; consider a detailed, miniature lacquerware boat or bridge on which to perch the savories or sweets.

Lonely Planet describes him as traveling "the globe in search of rare and exquisite jewelry, carvings, lacquerware, and other objets d'art for this jewel-box of a store." I haven't been there but it's been called an exquisite museum with illuminated vitrines containing treasures that one can take home.

The top part of the case displayed a variety of cultural items that included miniature musical instruments, a huarache or traditional shoe, baskets, miniature pottery, and hand painted lacquerware and fruits.

In the exhibition, 70 works that best exemplify the craftsmen's high level of skill in basket weaving, lacquerware, pottery, embroidery and wood crafts are presented, allowing visitors to enjoy the diverse and exquisite world of Tohoku traditions.

Goods from the Far East, including spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper, along with such highly valuable Chinese goods as silk cloth, porcelain, and lacquerware, were traded primarily for Mexican silver.

In Praise of Shadows features musings on Japanese cuisine, lacquerware, the Noh and Kabuki theater, and the changing standards of Japanese female beauty, including the curious bygone practice of women blackening their teeth.

Aside from the missing paintings, the COA also called out the PCGG for the deterioration of 191 naive art paintings from the former country Yugoslavia, 117 iconographic paintings and 207 lacquerware from Russia and nine mosaics from Italy.

In the urban context, traditional has trumped minimal, from the shiny lacquerware everywhere I looked at Four Seasons Hong Kong to the gilded furnishings across their European outposts from Istanbul at the Bosphorus to the Georges V in Paris.

These are the "Mother-Of-Peal Lacquerware From Korea." And from India, starting Oct.