Maki-e Lacquer Artist
Mitsuhiko Takada
Bespoke Japanese lacquer works in gold, silver, and light.
Each piece is created by hand using maki-e, a traditional Japanese lacquer technique in which fine metal powders are sprinkled onto wet lacquer to form luminous designs.
Featured Works
Selected pieces
What is Maki-e
Pictures
sown in metal
Maki-e — literally “sprinkled picture” — is among the most demanding of the Japanese lacquer arts. A design is drawn in wet urushi lacquer, and fine gold, silver, and coloured metal powders are sown onto it grain by grain before it sets.
The surface is then sealed, ground back, and polished through many layers over months, until the image lies deep within the lacquer rather than upon it — catching light slowly, the way still water does.
Commission Process
A piece made for one person
Each work is undertaken as a single private commission. The path from first conversation to finished object is unhurried by intention.
- 01
Inquiry
Share the object, occasion, and feeling you have in mind. Every commission begins as a conversation, not a catalogue.
- 02
Design
Motif, ground, and materials are proposed and refined together until the design is right for the piece and its purpose.
- 03
Lacquer & Maki-e
The work is built by hand over many months — layered urushi, sprinkled metal, and the slow patience the technique demands.
- 04
Delivery
The finished piece is documented and delivered. International handling and care guidance are arranged by Genji Atelier.
About the Artist
Mitsuhiko Takada
Mitsuhiko Takada works exclusively in maki-e, applying a traditional lacquer discipline to objects ranging from writing instruments and tea utensils to contemporary forms.
His practice favours restraint: a quiet ground, a single considered motif, and the long process the material asks for. A fuller biography is being prepared with the artist.
International Support
Commissioning from outside Japan
For collectors abroad, international correspondence, logistics, and care guidance are coordinated by Genji Atelier. The work remains entirely that of Mitsuhiko Takada; Genji Atelier provides support so that distance is never an obstacle to a commission.
Enquire about international commissions →Commissions
Begin a piece of your own
A limited number of private commissions are accepted each year.