Lacquer

There are no exact records of its origin in China though the art can be traced to the Sung dynasty. The medium used is lac, obtained mainly from the lac tree IMG:p295_9.png:Chinese characters vernicifera), ch'i shu IMG:p295_10.png:Chinese characters cultivated in Central and Southern China. The white resinous sap, which becomes black on exposure to air, is drawn from the tree during summer nights, collected and brought to market in a semi-fluid state or in cakes. It is then ground and pre ed through hempen cloth and made into a viscous fluid. The lac is first prepared and coloured, then it is applied with spatula and brush in succe ive layers to the surface, varying from three to eighteen, each layer being dried before the next is added; finally the lacquered surface is ornamented with painted designs, or carved before it has cooled. Wood is the usual groundwork. Yellow transparent lacquer contains gamboge; on amber lacquer contains pigs' gall and vegetable oil; the best red lacquer is made by grinding 296 t.iimabar with the raw lac; black lacquer contains iron sulphate or charcoal; golden yellow is prepared by adding powdered gold; silvery white, by adding silver dust, etc. Chinese lacquer is divided into two kinds — painted, hua ch'i IMG:p296_1.png:Chinese characters carved, tiuo ch'i IMG:p296_2.png:Chinese characters Canton and Foochow produce painted lacquer. Carved lacquer, chiefly a vermilion red, is made at Peking and Soochow, but nothing of importance has been produced at either place since the Ch'ien Lung period. Both kinds are sometimes inlaid wth precious stones or mother-of-pearl. The art reached its culmination under Ch'ien Lung (1736-95), but it has always been inferior to that of Japan, which learnt it from China. BusHELL: Chinese Art, vol. i.