Ogata Kōrin in the context of Ogata Kenzan

Japanese Lacquerware (日本漆器, shikki) is a Japanese craft with a wide range of fine and decorative arts, as lacquer has been used in urushi-e, prints, and on a wide variety of objects from Buddha statues to bento boxes for food.

The characteristic of Japanese lacquerware is the diversity of lacquerware using a decoration technique called maki-e (蒔絵) in which metal powder is sprinkled to attach to lacquer. The invention of various maki-e techniques in Japanese history expanded artistic expression, and various tools and works of art such as inro are highly decorative.

Luodian (螺钿) in Chinese or Raden (螺鈿) in Japanese for one of the decorative techniques used in traditional crafts and woodwork. It refers to a method of inserting nacre into a carved surface of lacquer or wood. The basic technique of atsugai raden originated around 3500 years ago in Egypt and later spread along the Mediterranean coast. It was subsequently introduced to Japan from the Tang dynasty during the Nara period.

"Luodian (also known as “Luodian” or “shell inlay”) is a decorative craft in which materials such as shells and mother-of-pearl are cut, polished, and inlaid onto the surfaces of lacquerware, wooden objects, or metalware. Its history can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, reached its peak during the Tang dynasty, and was widely applied to furniture, screens, jewelry, and other objects in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Under light, Luodian works refract a rainbow-like luster, earning the reputation: “Of all the wonders one could paint, a single shell outshines nature itself.”

Irises (紙本金地著色燕子花図, shihonkinji chakushoku kakitsubata-zu) is a pair of six-panel folding screens (byōbu) by the Japanese artist Ogata Kōrin of the Rinpa school. It depicts an abstracted view of water with drifts of Japanese irises (Iris laevigata). The work was probably made circa 1701–1705, in the period of luxurious display in the Edo period known as Genroku bunka (Genroku-era culture).

The screens were housed for over 200 years by the Nishi Honganji Buddhist temple in Kyoto. They are now held by the Nezu Museum, and they are a National Treasure of Japan.