Lacquering is a surface treatment of wood (or sometimes metal) which originated in Ancient China. The sap of certain plants was heated and applied in layers; as it cooled, it built-up into a durable, waterproof and very beautiful finish. The original process, sometimes referred to as "True Lacquering," used the sap of the Toxicodendron Vernicifluum, called the "Lacquer Tree," a plant which grows in Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. Over the centuries, artisans have developed alternative recipes and processes for achieving the desired lacquered finish. Lacquering can be polished to a high gloss, left flat, or calibrated somewhere in-between. Sometimes the lacquerware is further embellished with painting, inlaying of mother-of-pearl, or the application of other costly substances.
From Ancient China, lacquering techniques travelled to Japan and Korea, then onward to India and the Middle East. Sometimes the materials used were adapted to suit what was available in the differing locales. In India, some lacquerware was made with the "lac" (excretion) of insects (similar to shellac). When Asian-European trade opened-up in the 16th and 17th Centuries, Asian lacquerware became highly-prized amongst Western aristocrats—and much of it was produced and shipped to upscale and hungry European markets.
In Japan, lacquerware has been discovered buried in graves from 7,000 years ago. And the remnants of lacquer trees have been found in the excavations of human settlements from over 12,000 years ago.
The Chinese wooden scroll box, shown above, is finished in a satin vermillion lacquer. It was made around the Turn-of-the-Twentieth Century. It is finished with a handsome brass latch, now patinated by time. Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248