Lacquerware
East Asian countries have long traditions of lacquer work, going back several thousand years in the cases of China, Japan and Korea.
[1][2] The oldest lacquerware in the world, burial ornaments which were created in 9th millennium B.C., were unearthed in early Jomon period tombs, at the Kakinoshima site in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan.
The state of Chu having the geographical advantage and warmer climates enabled dedicated mass cultivation of lacquer trees and for lacquerware to become a commercial industry.
[11][12] At the time of the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), special administrations were established to organize and divide labor for the expanding lacquer production in China.
[14] In the Tang dynasty (618–907), Chinese lacquerware saw a new style marked by the use of sheets of gold or silver made in various shapes, such as birds, animals, and flowers.
[13] The knowledge of the Chinese methods of the lacquer process spread from China during the Han, Tang and Song dynasties,[18] eventually it was introduced to Korea, Japan.
[19] One of the earliest Japanese techniques for decorating the lacquer surface was, besides painting simple designs, the gold and silver foil inlay of the Nara period (710–784).
Etymologically, urushi may be related to the words uruwashii ("beautiful") or uruoi ("watered", "profitable", "favored"), due speculatively to their value or shiny appearance, or perhaps the humidifying rooms used in production of lacquered wares.
It is well documented that the Yongzheng Emperor had a formidable interest in Japanese lacquer, yangqi, and this was reflected in many of the works produced in the Imperial workshops during his reign.
Japanese lacquerware attracted European aristocrats and missionaries from Europe, and western style chests and church furniture were exported in response to their requests.
[33][34] Marie Antoinette and Maria Theresa are known collectors of Japanese lacquerware and their collections are now often exhibited in the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles.
[39] Today, the Japanese government has designated excellent lacquer artists as Living National Treasures and is encouraging them to make lacquerware.
Besides the very old Kamakura tradition mentioned above (and still alive today), the port town of Wajima provides a good example of regional lacquerware.
Wajima-nuri, dating back to the 16th century, is characterized by use of the elm-like Japanese zelkova (keyaki 欅), powdered earth, and delicate features formed from cloth.
When brushed in or coated on, it forms a hard glossy smooth surface resistant to a degree from the effects of exposure to moisture or heat.
[41] Bayinnaung's conquest and subjugation in 1555–1562 of Manipur, Bhamo, Zinme (Chiang Mai), Linzin (Lan Xang), and up the Taping and Shweli rivers in the direction of Yunnan brought back large numbers of skilled craftsmen into Burma.
Daunglan are low tables for meals and may be simple broad based or have three curved feet in animal or floral designs with a lid.
Pedestal dishes or small trays with a stem with or without a lid are known as kalat for serving delicacies or offering flowers to royalty or the Buddha.
Theatrical troupes and musicians have their lacquerware in costumes, masks, head-dresses, and musical instruments, some of them stored and carried in lacquer trunks.
[44] Boxes in the shape of a pumpkin or a bird such as the owl, which is believed to bring luck, or the hintha (Brahminy duck) are common too.
Since plastics, porcelain and metal have superseded lacquer in most everyday utensils, it is today manufactured in large workshops mainly for tourists who come to see the ancient temples of Bagan.
At the village of Kyaukka near Monywa in the Chindwin valley, however, sturdy lacquer utensils are still produced for everyday use mainly in plain black.
[43] A decline in the number of visitors combined with the cost of resin, which has seen a 40-fold rise in 15 years, has led to the closure of over two-thirds of more than 200 lacquerware workshops in Bagan.
Creating images with crushed eggshell, painting pigment over gold and tin foil and adding sand to lacquer were all techniques developed by those first students.
The metallic color lacquerware for which Vietnamese craftsmen are rightly famous, was first developed by artists experimenting with many innovative techniques.
It is used for wood finish, lacquerware, skin cosmetic, ornaments, dye for textiles, production of different grades of shellac for surface coating.
It is made by chewing the resin of the Andean mopa-mopa shrub (Elaeagia pastoensis) into thin layers, and then painting it and applying it to a wood, metal, clay or glass surface using heated stones.
In the pre-Hispanic period, a substance from the larvae of aje scale insects and/or oil from the chia seed were mixed with powdered minerals to create protective coatings and decorative designs.
After the Conquest, the Spanish had indigenous craftsmen apply the technique to European style furniture and other items, changing the decorative motifs and color schemes, but the process and materials remained mostly the same.
