So, What IS Japanese Urushi Lacquer?

So, what is Urushi? 

Urushi (lacquer) is both a lustrous coating material and a traditional craftArt of Japan. As a material, Urushi is the all-natural, milky, syrupy, and toxic sap from the Urushi tree - a tree indigenous to Asia.

As a craftArt, Urushi sap provides an incredibly durable surface coating yet is able to transform any object with its warm, lustrous glow -  the signature aesthetic qualitiy of this elegant craftArt - into an object of beauty.

Unlike the harsh reflection of some jewelry metals, Urushi gifts a quiet, shimmering, pearl-like appearence to all it embraces, placing it in an aesthetic category of its own.