Everything about Lacquerware totally explained
Lacquerware is objects which are decoratively covered with
lacquer which is sometimes inlaid or carved. Lacquerware includes boxes, tableware and even coffins painted with lacquer in cultures mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere.
History
Lacquer and producing lacquerware had been known to the Chinese since at least 5000 B.C, with a painted bowl found at Hemudu cluture,as the world's earliest Lacquerware. This can be seen in the existing lacquerwares produced, mostly of ritual cups, dishes, and wooden chest boxes with a lacquer finish across the surface. Many of these priceless ancient Chinese or Japanese lacquer artifacts can be found in private collections and museums, such as the
Freer Gallery of Art in
Washington D.C. In
Japan, the art of lacquerware-making came along with Buddhism and other cultural artifacts from China during the 8th century, and "carved lacquerware" came to Japan from Ming Dynasty China during the 14th century.
Burmese lacquerware
Yun-de is lacquerware in
Burmese, and the art is called
Pan yun. The lacquer is the sap tapped from the varnish tree
Melanorrhoea usitatissima or
Thitsee that grows wild in the forests of
Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is straw-coloured but turns black on exposure to air. When brushed in or coated on, it forms a hard glossy smooth surface resistant to a degree effects of exposure to moisture or heat.
History
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. It is thought that the finer sort of Burmese lacquerware, called Yun, was introduced during this period by imported artisans belonging to the Yun or
Laos Shan tribes of the Chiang Mai region.
Manufacture and design
Lacquer vessels, boxes and trays have a coiled or woven bamboostrip base often mixed with horsehair, and the thitsee may be mixed with ashes or sawdust to form a putty-like substance called
thayo which can be scuplted. The object is coated layer upon layer with thitsee and thayo to make a smooth surface, polished and engraved with intricate designs, commonly using red, green and yellow colours on a red or black background.
Shwezawa is a distinctive form in its use of gold leaf to fill in the designs on a black background.
Palace scenes, scenes from the
Jataka tales, and the signs of the Burmese
Zodiac are popular designs and some vessels may be encrusted with glass mosaic or semi-precious stones in gold relief.
History
Lacquer and producing lacquerware had been known to the Far East Asia.
The history of Japanese
lacquer goes back to the Stone Age while Chinese one had been known since the Era of Warring State.
The art of lacquerware came with
Buddhism into Japan from China.
And in the
Kamakura period, Japanese craftsman focused on carving the thick coated
lacquer of Chinese style. Soon after craftsman thought about carving woods first and coating
lacquer later.
In such way, Japanese craftsman realized shorten time to make lacquerware and spread over widely in not only among priests of temples but warriors of
samurai residences.
Japanese lacquerware characteristic of regionCreating and original design
Since the relocation of the capital from
Nara,
Kyoto,
Kamakura and
Edo (
Tokyo) in the thousand of years were done, variety of lacquerware is found all over the long island of Japan.
The first on the list may be Wajima-nuri and Kamakura-bori, because of historical background.
Very contemporary lacquerware may be
Wagae-nuri, born in the town of Zushi neighbor to
Kamakura.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lacquerware'.
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