Meanings
- A style of Japanese lacquerware made with gold or silver sprinkled on wet lacquer.
Although indigenous to Japan as a technique, early maki-e retained a T'ang Chinese influence in design. Maki-e is achieved by spreading and scattering gold or silver dust, flakes, nuggets, and leaf on a drawing done in sticky lacquer, which is applied over the hardened lacquer foundation.
1975, Patricia Salmon, A Guide to Japanese Antiques, page 221 more example
[…] and that was a puzzle until Orson remembered that he’d recounted without seeming upset (this disputed by Greg) that the boy he’d recently gotten rid of had stolen it, along with four of the maki-e lacquer boxes, as if these were objects as easy to sell on the street as a TV or a stereo.
1986 November 24, Susan Sontag, “The Way We Live Now”, in The New Yorker - An object decorated with this style of lacquer.
Origin
- Japanese蒔絵
- Englishmaki-e
Borrowed from Japanese 蒔絵 (maki e, literally “sown picture; scatter picture”).
More words from Japanese
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
maki-e. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maki-e
“maki-e.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maki-e. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maki-e,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maki-e.
Source: maki-e on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.