Pine, Bamboo and Plum Dessert Spoon and Fork Set

Crafted through a delicate manufacturing process, this set of a spoon and fork features a soft glow and a fine touch, with textured plant patterns on the handles and gold foil embellishments adding sophistication.

The handle features a traditional Aizu-e pattern, a distinctive design of Aizu lacquerware. Each piece is meticulously hand-painted by skilled maki-e artists, ensuring unique craftsmanship. The painting of the famous combination of pine tree, bamboo and plum is considered an auspicious motif in Japan, bringing good luck and longevity.

Also, there are paintings of ceremonial arrows and spinning wheels, both considered as a signature motif of Aizu lacquerware. The Aizu-e process requires eight distinct stages to be fully completed, demanding a high level of skill from the craftsmen involved.

During the coloring process, a technique known as tame-nuri is also employed. Tame-nuri is a finishing technique that utilizes the transparent suki-urushi lacquer. By applying this clear, black-tinted lacquer over a red base coat, the edges appear red through the transparency while the corners accumulate a deeper color, creating a beautifully contrasting appearance. 

Fukunishi-Sobe Shoten

Fukunishi-Sobe Shoten was started by taking over the lacquerware division from the main family, which had been in existence for 13 generations since the early Edo period. They have developed their products over time by figuring out "what must not be changed and what must be changed". In addition to the lacquering technique that makes the most of the moist luster of lacquerware, the company has handed down the unique decorative techniques of Aizu, such as Aizu-e painting with motifs of pine, bamboo, plum, and ceremonial arrow, and the spinning wheel. Fukunishi Sobe's lacquerware flexibly incorporates modern industrial technology, and is a special product that has a high artistic value as well as an aspect of being daily use items with which long-time use gives an additional charm. 

Aizu is located in the southern part of the Tohoku region and is known as a place where nature and history are richly preserved and a unique culture takes root. The Aizu region is a basin surrounded by rich nature and has become a famous lacquerware production area where the entire process from the production of materials, such as cultivating lacquer trees, collecting sap, and cutting nearby trees, to the processing and finishing of lacquerware can be done locally. Aizu lacquerware has continued to grow up to the present day, as it has always proactively adopted the latest technology in addition to the traditional techniques that have survived for over 400 years.