Chinese Lacquer Ware
17 min readLacquer ware is utensils shaped with wood or other materials and coated with lacquer. However, lacquer ware’s corruptible bases are hard to preserve, and few real objects have been discovered by archaeologists. Besides, damages are serious, and even only traces can be found. The red lacquered wood bowl about 7,000 years old unearthed from the Hemudu Culture site in Yuyao, Zhejiang in 1978 is the earliest lacquer utensil ever discovered in China. In the Neolithic Age, lacquer ware production was in the development stage of exploration, and advanced decorative techniques such as colored painting and jade inlay emerged. In the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period, lacquer ware underwent the first period of prosperity. Diversified decorative techniques were the primary manifestation of lacquer ware’s development.
On the lacquer ware unearthed in Erlitou Village, Yanshi, Henan, the most beautiful decorations are red lacquered carvings. In the late Shang Dynasty, there were many techniques of decorating lacquer ware such as colored painting, carving, turquoise inlay, clam shell inlay and attachment of gold foil. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, these techniques were rather mature. Among utensil bases’ materials, there were not only common wood bases, but also skin bases(made of cow skin, mostly for making lacquered shields). In the Spring and Autumn Period, the main technique of decorating lacquer ware was colored painting, and the level was obviously higher than the previous period. In the Warring States Period and the Han Dynasty, plantation of varnish trees was valued, the scale of lacquer ware production was huge, and the prosperity lasted lacquer ware production. According to Historical Records, Zhuangzi “used to be an hundreds of years. In the Warring States Period, there were special officials managin official in a lacquer tree plantation.” This shows Zhuangzi was once an official in charge of lacquer tree plantation.
Lacquer ware production in the Warring States Period was highly developed. At present, the main unearthed sites are within the area of the Chu culture such as Jiangling in Hubei, Changsha in Hunan and Xinyang in Henan. This should have to do with the Chu area’s practice of sealing the outer coffin with white mud in the tomb conducive to lacquer ware preservation, but cannot prove the northern technique of lacquer coating was backward. Painted Inner Coffin with Colorful Drawings of the early Warring States Period, unearthed from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng State in Suizhou, Hubei Province, kept in Hubei Provincial Museum. The coffin is made of wood, with its inner walls coated with red paint and a green jade pendant inlaid at the middle of the header and its outer walls covered with paint ashes before being polished and coated with a layer of black paint, which is further covered with a layer of red paint, and finally being painted with more than 900 images of dragons, snakes, birds, animals and deities in black and yellow colors. Painted Double-layer Nine-cell Lacquer Toilet Case with Colorful Drawings of Clouds of the Western Han Dynasty, unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tombs in Changsha, Hunan Province, kept in Hunan Provincial Museum. Multi-cell toilet case, an emerging variety in the Western Han Dynasty with a body mostly made using the kyocho technique and thin and solid walls, can hold more little boxes. The toilet case, when it’s unearthed, has a little box placed on its lower layer, and gloves banded belts, mirror shades and other articles on the upper layer. With its black-brown painted layer attached with gold foil and grease paints, this piece is both useful and beautiful. In the early Warring States Period, thick wood bases were used to produce lacquer ware. In the late period, there were diversified base types including light coiled wood slice bases, changeful ramie bases and tenacious and light skin bases. Decorative techniques included attachment of gold foil, needle etching and bronze buckles, and colored painting was the commonest. The main colors were black and red. Red patterns against black backgrounds were the main type, forming sharp contrast and looking both simple and beautiful. Besides, there were bright colors such as yellow, brown, green, blue, white, gold and silver.
Decorative patterns included animal patterns, geometrical patterns, cloud patterns as well as social themes such as banquets, carriages, horses, dances and hunting characterized by refreshing, lively and vivid images. In the Warring States Period, numerous types of lacquer ware had both practical and ornamental functions, including not only eating and drinking utensils, furniture and stationery, but also sacrificial vessels, musical instruments, weapons and burial objects. Though lacquer ware was ten times more expensive than bronze ware at that time, it was light, pleasing to the eye, easy to clean, resistant against heat and corrosion, and obvious better than bronze ware in everyday life. Therefore, it was favored by the ruling class In the Qin and Western Han dynasties lacquer ware thrived, the production scale expanded, production areas were distributed more widely, even in remote areas such as Guangzhou and Guiping, and Shu Prefecture and Guanghan Prefecture in Sichuar were centers. Numerous lacquer utensils were unearthed from high-standard tombs of this period. Dozens and even more than 100 lacquer utensils were unearthed from each high standard tomb, and the imperial family had thousands of lacquer dishes. The Han Dynasty had a special institute in charge of lacquer ware production and management. Government-run workshops were well organized, divided work carefully and formed a complete set of meticulous procedures from raw material supply, lacquer production and base production to initial lacquering, re-lacquering, opening wrapping (wrapping the opening with sheet metal), ear wrapping, colored painting, polishing and modification. Most bases of Qin and Han lacquer ware were wood and ramie, and there were also a few bamboo bases. The main type was eating and drinking utensils, which partly replaced bronze vessels and were often similar to bronze vessels in shape. Some utensils were quite tall but very light. The lacquer dish with cloud and dragon patterns 53.6 centimeters in diameter unearthed in Changsha, Hunan and the lacquer bell with cloud patterns 57 centimeters tall are their representatives, reflecting progress in lacquering techniques. In the Han Dynasty, complete sets of utensils such as multiple cases and utensil and cup cases were ingeniously designed. They could be put together or separated into several things. Multiple lacquer cases could even have 9 or 11 small cases. A big case could ingeniously contain many small cases of different sizes and forms, not only saving space, but also portable, practical and conducive to maintaining cleanness. In the Qin and Western Han dynasties, techniques of decorating lacquer ware were quite diversified, and colored painting was still the commonest. Meanwhile, techniques such as needle etching, called “needle painting” then, gold inlay, attachment of gold and silver foil, shell inlay and jewel inlay were also used.
In the Qin Dynasty, color painting patterns were represented by distorted bird heads with rough shapes and sparse lines. In the Northern Han Dynasty and the Southern Han Dynasty, cloud patterns were popular, often matched with animal patterns and geometrical patterns as well as theme figures such as immortals, loyal ministers and filial sons, featuring bright colors, smooth lines and lively spirit After the mid-Eastern Han Dynasty, with the development of pottery and the rise of porcelain, lacquer ware declined after the peak period. The decreasing number and simple decorations showed the declining trend, but some exquisite works also emerged. In the Wei Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, ramie statues and litharge paintings were popular lacquer ware. Buddhist statues made with ramie bases (i.e. “baseless bases”) were lifelike and portable. They could be carried by carriage or man in the street to carry forward religious doctrines. Litharge paintings were paintings drawn with lead oxide and oil color. In the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, lacquer ware thrived, and high -grade products were usually decorated with gold, silver, jade and precious stones. Xiangzhou was a famous place of production, producing “Xiangzhou-style” lacquer ware. Though the gold and silver inlay technique was refined, time-consuming and expensive in terms of materials, glittering gold and silver and shiny lacquer enhanced each other’s beauty and looked very exquisite. In the Wu Zetian Period (690-705), a large ramie Buddhist statue 900 chi tall was built in Luoyang, showing the air of a great power. It is said that there was carved lacquer ware then, but no real object has been unearthed. Plain lacquered utensils were the mainstream of lacquer ware in the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty. Despite the simple colors, the shapes were neat and refined and the bases were thin and suitable. The maturity of a number of high-grade types showed the achievements in lacquer production in the Song Dynasty. Gold-inlaid lacquer ware was very exquisite with elegant figure and flower decorations. Carved “rhinoceros horn lacquer ware is the main type of unearthed Song lacquer ware. The main lacquer layers are red and black, alternating with other colors. Carved red lacquer ware also should have emerged, because Yuan people praised the Song imperial storehouse’s “fondness” of carved red lacquer ware. Though no real shell-inlaid lacquer ware has been discovered, the beautiful and exquisite patterns on the shell-inlaid red sandalwood 5-stringed Chinese lute of the Tang Dynasty collected by the Nara Shosoin Treasure Repository in Japan can epitomize it. In the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, lacquer ware was not only produced by the government, but also made by a lot of ordinary people. Kaifeng ‘s lacquer ware shop can be seen in Along the River During the Qingming Festival of Northern Dynasty.
Bronze Mirror with Gold Dilver-inlaid Back Side Painted with Feather Men, Flying Phoenixes, Flowers and Birds of the Tang Dynasty, 36.2cm in diameter, kept in the National Museum of China. Combining bronze opened, flying phoenixes, flowers and birds carved on gold and silver fittings against a brown lacquera techniques with the gold and silver inlay technique, the mirror back is inlaid with feathered men with wings background Carved Black Lacquer Case with Cloud Patterns of the Yuan Dynasty, 14.8cm in diameter, made by Zhang Cheng, kept in Anhui Provincial Museum. As a timeless masterpiece made by Zhang Cheng, a famous lacquerware-making master in the Yuan Dynasty, the lacquer case has a simple and elegant shape, a wooden body painted with layered red and black lacquer through about a hundred procedures, presenting a bright and warm sheen and reflecting sophisticated and mellow cutting techniques. Painted Hand warmer with black background decorated with landscapes and pavilions outlined with gold ofthe Qing Dynasty, kept in the Palace Museum in Beijing. The hand warmer has a thin wooden body with a shape of two connected circles, on which is a handle, a round hole in the middle of the flat bottom and a gilded copper pot and a shade knitted with copper wire inside, providing high utility value. With landscapes and architectures outlined with mosaic gold with balanced light and dark color shades, it is a fine gold -outlined lacquer ware In the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, lacquer ware production reached a new climax, and governmental and nongovernmenta lacquer ware production coexisted and developed side by side. In the Yuan Dynasty, Mongolians were quite indifferent to lacquer ware. Though large lacquer jars were used to store wine in the imperial court, most known utensils made by the government were single-colored without any pattern. The main achievements were manifested in nongovernmental production: the technique of lacquer ware carving was consummate and the achievements were glorious. Embossed lacquer was thick and plump and round patterns were carved with knives carefully. Exquisite and elegant carved red lacquer ware was the mainstream; gold-and silver-inlaid ornaments were sophisticated, and shell-inlaid patterns were exquisite and neat like ruler paintings. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, lacquering techniques combined with architecture, furniture and furnishings, and shifted from practicality to decorativeness. In the Ming Dynasty, lacquering techniques were diversified, and there were nearly 400 types including colored lacquer, covered lacquer, gold outlining, embossed lacquer, filled lacquer, carving and filling, shell inlay, rhinoceros skin, carved “rhinoceros horn” lacquer, carved red lacquer ware, dent coloring, gold inlay, treasure inlay, etc. However, multiple techniques were applied to one utensil, making it dazzling and complicated. Therefore, many utensils were purely ornamental and not suitable for practical use. The development of carved lacquer ware also showed this trend. In the Yongle Period(1403-1424)and the Xuande Period, the Song and Yuan styles of thick embossed lacquer, smooth cutting and elegant patterns were advocated, but later they shifted towards meticulous, exquisite and even complicated styles.
In the Yongle Period of the Ming Dynasty, the lacquer production institute “orchard factory” serving the imperial court was set up. Zhang Degang, a son of the famous Yuan lacquer artist Zhang Cheng, was in charge of processes and affairs.the embossed lacquer ware and filled lacquer ware produced by it were exquisite and called”factory-made- lacquer ware.” Nongovernr lacquer ware production was also very widespread, and many famous lacquer craftsmen emerged, e.g. gold lacquer expert Jiang Huihui from Suzhou, famous gold outlining master Yang Xun from Yangzhou who went to Japan to study”Japanese lacquer ware,” treasure inlay expert Zhou Zhu from Yangzhou, and famous thin shell inlay master Jiang Qianli from Yangzhou. The only existing Chinese ancient monograph on lacquer art-Notes on Lacquer Decoration-was also written in the Ming Dynasty by famous expert in carved red lacquer ware Huang Dacheng from Xin’an (today’s Xin’an, Anhui) around the Longqing Period (1567-1572). It systematically summarizes the raw materials, tools and equipment of lacquer ware production as well as preparation of colored lacquer, decoration methods, etc., and gives an account of the principle and history of lacquer ware creation. In the late Ming Dynasty Yang Ming, a famous painter, annotated each article and written a foreword to enrich the contents. He made important contributions to inheriting and carrying forward Chinese lacquer art. Qing lacquer ware was better in technique and more refined in production compared with Ming lacquer ware, and various types’production centers and local characteristics were gradually formed,e.g. embossed lacquer ware from Beijing and Suzhou, thin shell-inlaid lacquer ware and treasure-inlaid lacquer ware from Yangzhou, and baseless bases from Fuzhou. Besides, number of famous craftsmen emerged.lu Kuisheng from Yangzhou was good at many techniques, and among his numerous works, treasure-inlaid lacquer ware and lacquer and sand ink stones were best known; baseless lacquer ware made by Shen Shaoan from Fuzhou with thin and light bases decorated with multi-colored paintings and affixed with gold and silver foil was stunningly beautiful, light and durable. Qing lacquer ware also exerted great influence on Europe. Famous 18 century British furniture artist Tom Chippendale created designs with reference to Chinese lacquer furniture, adopted high-grade Fujian lacquer, and decorated his works with dragon, flower, grass, Buddhist statue and pagoda patterns. Therefore, his works had strong Chinese color, remained popular for a while, and ushered in the so-called “Chippendale Period.” As an important type of Chinese traditional arts and crafts, lacquer art first spread to East Asia and Southeast Asia and then to West Europe and North America, and exerted extensive international influence. Drinking vessel, a Yi ethnic-style lacquerware contemporary, 24cm in height, made in the 1940s. Produced in Liangshan, Sichuan, it has a wooden body with colored paintings and a well-conceived design that enable liquor to be filled in from the bottom of the vessel Croissant cup, modern lacquerware made by Miao people in Miao communities in southeastern Guizhou Province, circa 1920.
It is made of a buffalo horn processed and painted with lacquer with fine and beautiful decorative patterns, presenting strong ethnic styles. Modern development of lacquer ware continued mainly through apprenticeship or family education and inheritance. For example, the Beijing Jiguzhai Studio and Fujian Lacquer Ware “Teaching and Learning Institute”recruited apprentices, specialized in studying lacquer ware production skills, and inherited traditions.in1904, lacquer artists Xiao Le’an and Li Maolong opened the first modern embossed lacquer goods workshop in China-the Beijing “Jiguzhai Studio. In 1914, the Jiguzhai Studio won the gold prize at the Panama International Exposition with large screen Immortals’ Birthday Celebration. After the Jiguzhai Studio’s apprentices completed their study, they opened the”Decheng”Embossed Lacquer Ware Company, the “Mingguzhai” Studio, the “Suji” Embossed Lacquer Ware Workshop, etc. After the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, the Jiguzhai Studio’s disciples specializing in embossed lacquer ware production were gathered to establish the Beijing Embossed Lacquer Ware Production Cooperative; in 1958, it was renamed Beijing Embossed Lacquer Ware Factory, which was the only producer in the embossed lacquer ware industry then. Creator of Fuzhou baseless lacquer ware Shen Shaoan’s fifth-generation descendants Shen Zhenghao and his brother Shen Zhengxun established the “Fujian Technique Teaching and Learning Institute” in Fuzhou in 1904, set up the Lacquer Ware Production Department, enrolled 40 students, employed Japanese teachers, and fostered a number of professional lacquer art talents such as Li Zhiqing. In 1910, the Shen brothers took Haoji and Xunji as their brands, selected baseless lacquer ware to participate in the Nanyang Industrial Exposition and the U.S. Saint Louis Exposition, and won many prizes. Later, Fuzhou baseless lacquer ware gained great fame and began to be exported a lot ①Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a lacquer painting by Qiao Shiguang in 1984, 180cm x90cm, kept in the National Art Museum of China. It is a representative piece of modern lacquer paintings with an ingenious design that integrates materials, lacquerware techniques and the craftsmanship and expressiveness of lacquer painting.②Golden Fish Plate, 35cm in diameter, designed and made by Shen Fuwen in 1958 As a bodiless lacquer are shaped with grass linen, this work adopts multiple techniques including lacquer embossing, colored drawing, grinding, lacquer finishing, and leaf-gilding③Models of lacquerware techniques and skills, developed by Li Zhiqing in 1958, kept and displayed in Fujian Arts and Crafts Gallery. These models are more than 100 pieces summarizing the techniques accumulated by Li Zhiqing in years of lacquerware-making practice. In the Republic of China Period, a number of lacquer artists went to Japan to study lacquer art, represented by Li Zhiqing and Shen Fuwen. Li Zhiqing went to Japan in 1924 to pursue further studies at the Lacquer Art Department of the Nagasaki Craft Art School in Japan. He combined Japanese and Chinese lacquering techniques, created many new unique lacquering techniques, and systematically sorted out lacquer patterns, decorations and techniques In the 1950s, he disclosed his techniques to the public, made more than 100 models for lacquering techniques, and promoted the development of new types of Chinese modern lacquer ware; he also applied them to lacquer painting practice, and created a number of experimental lacquer paintings. In 1935, Shen Fuwen went to Japan after graduating from the Hangzhou National Art College, studied lacquer art intensively at the Matsuda Lacquer Art Research Institute, and invented many lacquering techniques.
Shen Fuwen held many lacquer work exhibitions in the 1930s and 1940s, and gained a foothold for lacquer art in China’s fine arts circles. In 1954, Shen Fuwen set up the first lacquer art department in China at the Southwest Fine Arts College (the predecessor of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute), included it into the higher education system, and closely combined lacquer art education and the lacquer ware industry. In 1969, he completed the first Chinese Lacquer Art History as the chief editor, and it was used as a textbook for lacquer art majors in institutions of higher learning. The change in the mode of passing on knowledge led to inheritance and development of good traditions of Chinese lacquer art in the open system.Flat Belly Bottle, designed and made by Zhu Tingren and Tian Fengrong in 1973. This work has a copper surface and blue interior and carvings on red lacquer, and is a representative piece of carved lacquerware in the 1970s. Desk Lamp, designed and made by Wu Xi and Ji Xin’an in 1996. With a wooden body and painted with tens of layers of black and red lacquer, this work adopts the traditional cloud carving technique, presenting a classical yet modern touch Chinese modern lacquer ware with raw lacquer and derivative paint as materials, with traditional lacquering techniques as the main expressive skills and with articles of everyday use, ornamental articles, souvenirs and decorations as development space, shows the Zeitgeist of “making the past serve the present and weeding through the old to bring forth the new.” Famous local products include embossed lacquer ware from Beijing, lacquer ware with grounded shells with lacquer spots, jade-inlaid embossed lacquer ware and bone-and stone-inlaid lacquer ware from Yangzhou, Jiangsu, baseless lacquer ware from Fuzhou, Fujian, lacquer line decorations from Xiamen, carved and filled lacquer ware with wood, skin and bamboo bases from Tianshui, hand-polished black lacquer ware, embossed lacquer ware with gold outlines and rubbed lacquer ware from Pingyao, Shanxi,etc. Minority ethnic groups” lacquer ware such as Yi people’s lacquer ware inlaid with colored painting, Tibetans’ lacquer ware of everyday use and religious masks and Miao people’s and Dai people’s lacque ware of everyday use all have special characteristics; the skills of making civilian lacquer ware such as gold and lacquer wood carvings, basket-base lacquer ware(with bamboo bases), wood-base lacquer ware and other lacquer ware with bases(vine bases, skin bases, paper bases, etc.) remain because they are still needed in life. Lacquer ware, lacquer painting and lacquer sculpture, whether two-dimensional or three-dimensional in shape and whether practical or ornamental in function, all belong to the category of modern lacquer art as long as lacquer is involved. Decorative patterns of lacquer ware as the main part of traditional lacquer art are the origin of modern lacquer painting. As an independent type of fine arts, lacquer painting became well-known- at the6 Nationa Artworks Exhibition in1984.qiao Shiguang is reputed as “father of Chinese lacquer painting. “His works uniting the nature of lacquer and the nature of painting made modern lacquer painting keep innovating while carrying on traditional lacquer art and culture and gradually become independent. His representative works include Water-splashing Festival, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Big Dipper, etc. Application of materials and techniques of traditional lacquer art to Chinese modern lacquer painting creation according to the concept of painting was an important factor in lacquer painting’s independence.
Costume Traditional Chinese weaving, embroidering, printing and dyeing techniques are renowned for their long histories, exquisite craftsmanship diverse decorations and outstanding quality, which exist a 5 ever in people’s life in the form of costume or indoor ornaments. By material fabrics may be classified into silk fabrics, cotton fabrics linen fabrics, wool fabrics, modern fibers and others, of which the silk fabrics had the most far-reaching influences. The natural silk was originated in China, and silk was so famous in ancient China that foreigners used to call China “Silk Country.” Silk fabrics played an important role in economic and cultural exchanges between China and the Western world in ancient time, to the extent that the main route used then was called as the “Silk Road.” Of dyeing and weaving techniques, embroidery was one of the earliest and most important decorative approaches. According to a monograp named The Records of Examinatio of Craftsman(or Book of Diverse Crafts) that was finished in the pre-Qin period, “a piece of embroidery is a fabric containing five essential colors. Hence, “as beautiful as brocade”is a term usually used to describe beauty in China. Throughout the history, four kinds of famous embroidery have gradually been formed: Suzhou embroidery, Guangdong embroidery Sichuan embroidery and Hunan embroidery, bearin distinct local features each. Printing and dyeing are major approaches for fabric ornamentation, and products made with those approaches constitute a major part of dyeing and weaving crafts. In the past production activities, Chinese people developed such techniques as extracting dyestuff from plants and minerals, synthetic dyestuff making, as well as dyeing, and produced a great variety of fabrics. Among them, traditional printing and dyeing techniques mainly include wax printing, tie dyeing, indigo printing, Jiaxie a kind of resist printing), wood mould stamping, etc.; modern printing and dyeing techniques mainly refer to roller printing, screen printing, rotary screen printing and transfer printing, etc.
