Lacquerware

Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer, the treated, dyed and dried sap of Toxicodendron vernicifluum or related trees, applied in several coats to a base that is usually wood. This dries to a very hard and smooth surface layer which is durable, waterproof, and attractive to feel and look at. Lacquer is sometimes painted with pictures, inlaid with shell and other materials, or carved, as well as dusted with gold and given other further decorative treatments. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Most East Asian countries have long traditions of lacquer work, going back several thousand years in the cases of China and Japan.

True lacquer is not made outside Asia, but some imitations, such as Japanning in Europe, or parallel techniques, such as those of South America, are often loosely referred to a "lacquer".

Various prehistoric lacquerwares have been unearthed in China dating back to the Neolithic period and objects with lacquer coating found in Japan dating to the late Jōmon period. The earliest known lacquer object, a red wooden bowl, was unearthed at a Hemudu culture (c. 5th millennium BC) site in Zhejiang, China.

During the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BC) of China, sophisticated lacquer process techniques developed became a highly artistic craft.

During the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC), lacquerware began appearing in large quantity. This is the earliest era from which notable quantities of lacquerware have survived.

By the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), special administrations were established to organize and divide labor for the expanding lacquer production in China. Elaborate incised decorations were used in lacquerware during the Han dynasty.

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. The cut-outs were affixed onto the surface of the lacquerware, after which new layers of lacquer were applied, dried, and then ground away, so the surface could be polished to reveal the golden or silvery patterns beneath. This was done by a technique known as pingtuo. Such techniques were time-consuming and costly, but these lacquerware were considered highly refined. It was also the period when the earliest practice of carving lacquerware began.

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Wikipedia