This boldly carved, standing shishi lion, set above rocks and foliage, and surrounded by scattering clouds, presents a fearsome image. The shishi is an important guardian in both Buddhism and Shintoism, and is frequently seen in statues flanking the entrance to temples and shrines. On the reverse of this foliate-cornered tray runs an Egyptian key pattern - a common decorative motif found on work of this period. The carving of the work is deep and precise, indicating a base working surface built up of around 100 layers.

The art of carving lacquer was developed in Song period China around the 12th century. When first imported to Japan in the 14th century its methods amazed the Japanese. Believing that they could not match such perfection, the immediate Japanese response was to invent the technique of kamakura-bori, in which the design would be carved in wood and then be given a simple over-coating of lacquer.

One Kyoto family, however, pursued achieving the real thing, adopting the name Tsuishu (meaning 'layered red") Youzei (conflating the names of two famous Chinese lacquerists Youmo and Chousei). The family was to produce work for the Ashikaga and Tokugawa shoguns, and continued working into the 20th century, when the work of the 20th-generational head was credited with revitalising and modernising this art form.