Lacquerware
Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. 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. Before lacquering, the surface is sometimes painted with pictures, inlaid with shell and other materials, or carved. The lacquer can be dusted with gold or silver for example Hirameji and given further decorative treatments.
East Asian countries have long traditions of lacquer work, going back several thousand years in the cases of China, Japan and Korea. The best known lacquer, an urushiol-based lacquer common in East Asia, is obtained from the dried sap of Toxicodendron vernicifluum. Other types of lacquers are processed from a variety of plants and insects. The traditions of lacquer work in Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Americas are also ancient and originated independently. True lacquer is not made outside Asia, but some imitations, such as Japanning in Europe, or parallel techniques, are often loosely referred to a "lacquer."
East Asia
The oldest lacquer tree found is from the Jōmon period in Japan, 12600 years ago. 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.Various prehistoric lacquerwares have been unearthed in China dating back to the Neolithic period and objects. The earliest known lacquerware in China is thought to be a red wooden bowl, which was unearthed at a Hemudu culture site in Zhejiang, China.
Chinese lacquerware
During the Shang dynasty of China, sophisticated lacquer process techniques developed became a highly artistic craft.During the Eastern Zhou period, lacquerware began appearing in large quantity. This is the earliest era from which notable quantities of lacquerware have survived, with the kingdom of Chu producing the largest number of lacquerware. 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. Because of this, Chu-state became famous for its lacquerware exports in the neighbouring states in the Zhou kingdom, with literary references found in books like Zhuangzi and Shangshu, and providing some cultural cross-pollination between the southern culture of Chu and the culture of Zhongyuan.
At the time of the Han dynasty, 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, 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.
The art of inlaid gold, silver, and mother-of-pearl continued from the Tang into the Song dynasty. Several existing decorative techniques gradually developed further after the 10th century, such as diaoqi which involves building up layers comprising thinly-applied coats of lacquer and carving it into a three-dimensional design; qiangjin in which fine lines are incised, an adhesive of lacquer is applied, and gold foil or powder is pressed into the grooves; and diaotian or tianqi in which the lacquer is inlaid with lacquer of another color. A variation of diaotian or tianqi is known as moxian in which a design is built up with lacquer in certain areas, the remaining areas are filled with lacquer of a different color, and the entire surface is polished down. Especially the art of inlaying lacquer with mother-of-pearl was intensively developed during the Song dynasty. However, during the Song, the artistic craft also made use of inlaid gold in a process of which is to engrave intricate patterns in the lacquer surface and to fill the intaglio with gold powder.
The knowledge of the Chinese methods of the lacquer process spread from China during the Han, Tang and Song dynasties, eventually it was introduced to Korea, Japan. In Japan, the art of lacquerware-making came along with Buddhism and other cultural artifacts from China via the Korean Peninsula during the 8th century, and carved lacquerware came to Japan from Ming dynasty China during the 14th century. 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. This technique was transmitted from China during the Tang dynasty.
Coromandel lacquer is a Chinese export type, so called because it was shipped to European markets via the Coromandel coast of India.
Japanese lacquerware
The term for lacquer is urushi, source of the English hybrid word "urushiol". Etymologically, urushi may be related to the words uruwashii or uruoi, due speculatively to their value or shiny appearance, or perhaps the humidifying rooms used in production of lacquered wares. The term "Japanning" in the 17th century is a term for the technique used by Europe to emulate Asian lacquer, derived from the then famous Japanese lacquer.The general characteristic of Japanese lacquerware is the widespread use of various Maki-e techniques compared to other countries. As a result, there are many works in which relatively vivid gold and silver patterns and pictures shine on the black base of lacquerware, and the entire lacquerware is covered with shiny gold and silver grains.
History and regional production
Primitive lacquer was used in Japan as early as 12,600 BC, during the Jōmon period.Lacquer was used in Japan as early as 7000 BCE, during the Jōmon period. Evidence for the earliest lacquerware was discovered at the Kakinoshima "B" Excavation Site in Hokkaido. These objects were discovered in a pit grave dating from the first half of the Initial Jōmon period Japanese lacquering technology may have been invented by the Jōmon. They learned to refine urushi – the process taking several months. Iron oxide and cinnabar were used for producing red lacquer. Lacquer was used both on pottery, and on different types of wooden items. In some cases, burial clothes for the dead were also lacquered. Many lacquered objects have turned up during the Early Jōmon period; this indicates that this was an established part of Jōmon culture. Experts are divided on whether Jōmon lacquer was derived from Chinese techniques, or invented independently. For example, Mark Hudson believes that “Jomon lacquer technology was developed independently in Japan rather than being introduced from China as once believed”.
During the Asuka and Nara periods, between the 7th and 8th centuries, Chinese lacquer art forms were imported to Japan.
In the Heian period, various Maki-e techniques characteristic of Japanese lacquerware were developed. While the method of drawing designs with a brush by dissolving gold powder in lacquer is a common technique in other countries, the method of drawing designs with lacquer and then sprinkling gold, silver, or copper powder of various sizes and shapes on top to polish them was developed in Japan. This made it possible to make the gold and silver of lacquerware brighter than before.
In the Kamakura period, carved lacquer from the Song dynasty of China was imported to Japan. However, many Japanese lacquer craftsmen did not adopt the Chinese method of depositing lacquer and then carving it; instead, they created Kamakurabori, a method of carving wood and then coating lacquer.
File:花鳥蒔絵螺鈿聖龕.jpg|thumb|A Japanese lacquerware produced and exported at the request of the Society of Jesus; Azuchi–Momoyama period, 16th century, Kyushu National Museum
Japanese lacquerware was abundantly exported to China where the Ming and Qing rulers generally described Japanese lacquerwares as " foreign lacquer ". Yang Ming, and famous lacquer man Zhejiang, made annotations for A Record of Decoration with Lacquer, ... People of the Ming dynasty once recorded: “The decoration art with lacquer coated with gold originated from Japan". Yang in the reign of Xuande of the Ming dynasty made a trip to Japan to study Japanese techniques, and a Japanese visited a Chinese imperial workshop in Beijing during the Ming dynasty. 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. In the Azuchi-Momoyama period also made its way into Colonial Mexico and Europe by Nanban trade. Japanese lacquerware attracted European aristocrats and missionaries from Europe, and western style chests and church furniture were exported in response to their requests.
File:印籠-Inro with Fox's Wedding.jpg|thumb|Inro with Fox's Wedding ; Edo period, late 18th – early 19th century
The Edo period saw an increase in the focused cultivation of lacquer trees and the development of the techniques used. In the 18th century colored lacquers came into wider use. With the development of economy and culture, the artistic quality of lacquered furniture has improved. Hon'ami Kōetsu and Ogata Kōrin brought the designs of the Rinpa school of painting into lacquerware. From the middle of the Edo period, inro became popular as men's accessories, and wealthy merchants of the chōnin class and samurai class collected inro of high aesthetic value, precisely designed with lacquer. 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.
In the Meiji period, Richly-decorated lacquerwares in original designs were popular domestically, and even more so with Western buyers during this period of European and American fascination with Japanese art. Shibata Zeshin's lacquer work was especially popular. In addition, lacquerware called Shibayama, which was created in the Edo period, became popular for its showy style, inlaid with gold, silver, shellfish, ivory, coral, tortoise shell and ceramics, and reached its peak during this period. Lacquerware called Somada, which was created in the Edo period and characterized by regular patterns of finely cut seashells, gold leaf and silver leaf, also became popular during this period. The government took an active interest in the art export market, promoting Japan's lacquers and other decorative arts at a succession of world's fairs. Lacquer from Japanese workshops was recognised as technically superior to what could be produced anywhere else in the world.
Today, the Japanese government has designated excellent lacquer artists as Living National Treasures and is encouraging them to make lacquerware. Lacquerware is produced throughout the Japanese archipelago, with many regional techniques and variations. Besides the very old Kamakura tradition mentioned above, 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, powdered earth, and delicate features formed from cloth.