Excerpt from Descriptive Catalogue of Art Works in Japanese Lacquer: Forming the Third Division of the Japanese Collection in the Possession of James L. Bowes, Esq., Liverpool<br><br>The art is a very old one, - of that fact there can be no doubt. It is Rated by the Japanefe to have reached its highel't development about three hundred years ago; although fpecimens of perfect Lacquer have been dated five or fix centuries old, and highly prized on account of their great antiquity.<br><br>Amongfi: the Japanefe, Lacquer has always been much efieemed; and articles covered or ornamented with it have been preferred to thofe of any other material, not excepting the precious metals. Fine and ancient pieces have been deemed worthy of being handed down from generation to generation as heir looms, and have ranked, with precious (word-blades, as the molt valued pofl'efiions of their owners.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.