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The earliest extant lacquerware objects from Ryûkyû include a number of funerary urns from the [[Momojana tombs]], located near [[Nakijin gusuku]] in the northern portion of [[Okinawa Island]]. Dating to around [[1500]], these are said to be the tombs of a number of members of the [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|Shuri nobility]] who fled north during what they felt to be the "tyrannical" reign of King [[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]] (r. [[1461]]-[[1469]]). A series of lacquerware coffers in a private collection on [[Kumejima]], bearing designs similar to those at [[Tamaudun]] (built [[1501]]), and said to have been gifts from the court of King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] in 1500, are also among the earliest known extant examples of Ryukyuan lacquerware.<ref>Tokugawa Yoshinobu, iv-v.</ref>
The earliest extant lacquerware objects from Ryûkyû include a number of funerary urns from the [[Momojana tombs]], located near [[Nakijin gusuku]] in the northern portion of [[Okinawa Island]]. Dating to around [[1500]], these are said to be the tombs of a number of members of the [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|Shuri nobility]] who fled north during what they felt to be the "tyrannical" reign of King [[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]] (r. [[1461]]-[[1469]]). A series of lacquerware coffers in a private collection on [[Kumejima]], bearing designs similar to those at [[Tamaudun]] (built [[1501]]), and said to have been gifts from the court of King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] in 1500, are also among the earliest known extant examples of Ryukyuan lacquerware.<ref>Tokugawa Yoshinobu, iv-v.</ref>
According to some accounts, Ryukyuan lacquerwares were primarily red and featured particular patterns and designs. Following the invasion, Japanese demand for Ryukyuan lacquerware increased significantly, and the ''[[kaizuri bugyo|kaizuri bugyôsho]]'' (Office of Lacquerwares) within the royal government was expanded; most Japanese customers were more interested in works they could pass off as "Chinese-style" (''[[karamono]]''), and so styles and techniques adapted to some extent in order to cater to their tastes and desires. Ryukyuan lacquerware artists were increasingly sent to China to study Chinese styles and techniques. Late 20th to early 21st century lacquerware master [[Maeda Koin|Maeda Kôin]] said that the designs came to have less meaning or significance, but to increasingly be designs used simply to appeal to the Japanese demand, including landscapes, dragons, phoenixes, and other creatures, as well as peonies and imaginary islands. Many of these works were inscribed with Chinese phrases, signatures, and dates so as to better pass them off as Chinese or Chinese-style.<ref>"Shurijô Seiden ha sekai saidaikyû no urushi no ki. Shurijô no shûfuku, fukugen ga dekiru shokunin o sodatete moraitai"「首里城正殿は世界最大級の漆の器。首里城の修復、復元ができる職人を育ててもらいたい。」、''Fee nu kaji'' 南ぬ風 9 (2008/10-12), 3.</ref>
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