Angoya-type Negoro Tray

Simple, functional vessels covered in layers of red lacquer over underlying black lacquer layers that are revealed where the red had been rubbed off are called Negoro wares. Most Negoro objects were produced for Buddhist and Shinto ceremonial use and played a vital role in the everyday life of Buddhist monks. Negoro ware has been highly esteemed in Japan since the beginning of its production in the Nanbokuchō period (1333–1392). The name derives from the head temple of the Shingi Shingon sect in Wakayama Prefecture, the Ichijōzan Daidenpōin Negoro-ji. It was a prosperous monastery with several sub-temples, so household furnishings and kitchen utensils had to be produced in large quantities. Woodwork workshops created the vessels and then handed them over to the lacquerers, who applied the black and red urushi layers. Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s (1536–1598) attack in 1585 left the whole mountain in ruins; consequently, in the present-day Negoro-ji, there are neither Negoro lacquers nor documentation of their production.

This rectangular tray has indented corners and sits on short, rectangular slat legs. In India, during the rainy season, monks ceased their rounds of begging for alms and confined themselves to remote places where they meditated, trained, and studied. This practice is called ango in Japanese, and the place where it takes place is the angoya. Rectangular trays with low feet were passed down at Kasuga shrine’s subsidiary shrine, Angoya, in Nara Prefecture. These sturdy, functional lacquers, used primarily for offerings, became known as Angoya-type trays. This example is the oldest known such vessel, inscribed in the year Shitoku 1 (1384) and identified as a Busshō-ji go-han, a portable tray used in the Busshō-ji temple.