(Our Japanese friends refer to the use of heavily applied gold OVER MORIAGE as Impasto.)

KIN-MORI Technique: The works of Nippon that have raised gold design begin with an application of moriage – the 3-dimensional look found on the ceramic wares in this period. Simply, gold raised work is called Kin-mori. After the first firing of a painted piece, the itchin (the tool used to “draw” a design with slip) was used to draw dots, dotted lines, or pictures with mud clay. Creating moriage is like the process one undertakes to decorate a cake with the slip as the “icing.” After applying the design with the itchin the piece was fired again to set the clay. Then the moriage was painted with liquid gold paint. Pieces with a higher gold content were brighter and the finish more durable. As the Nippon era progressed, Morimura Brothers migrated to decorating these wares with liquid gold. This was produced by fusing gold with aqua regia. In order to protect the gold from damage the firing that took place after the application of the paint was at a very low temperature. Once it was completed the gold had to be polished. The result was a look of raised gold.

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