LACQUERWARE BY LINDA
History of Lacquerware
Lacquerware is an ancient art that originated in China over 3,000 years ago and spread into northern Siam. As the Kingdom of Thailand today Siam has been the home for lacquerware for centuries. Due to modern containers in World War II, The lacquerware craft nearly disappeared, but in recent decades it has become very popular.
Lacquer is made from the resin of the vanish tree, which is mixed with ash and various natural dyes. Wood is the most popular base material for Siamese lacquerware. Many separate coats of lacquer are applied to the wood and it takes approximately two weeks for each coating to dry. Even a small fleck of dust can ruin a fresh coating of lacquer.
As soon as the last coating of black lacquer has dried, it becomes time for our own artisans’ painting skills to come to play. Multicolored painting, gold leaf inlay, engraving, or the application of crushed eggshells are just a few of the designs that can be made. Multicolored painting is our most difficult, time consuming process and produces our most beautiful designs. The paint is placed into cellophane paper which is in a shape of a pastry tube. Then the paint is squeezed free-hand style from the tube onto the lacquerware. Upon first inspection of our craftsmanship, it may be hard to believe that the human hand can consistently achieve such tiny and balanced features without mistakes. It takes many years of training to perfect this skill and a machine could not do such remarkable work.
We thank you and sincerely hope that you will cherish your newly purchased lacquerware for many generations to come.
Lacquer is made from the resin of the vanish tree, which is mixed with ash and various natural dyes. Wood is the most popular base material for Siamese lacquerware. Many separate coats of lacquer are applied to the wood and it takes approximately two weeks for each coating to dry. Even a small fleck of dust can ruin a fresh coating of lacquer.
As soon as the last coating of black lacquer has dried, it becomes time for our own artisans’ painting skills to come to play. Multicolored painting, gold leaf inlay, engraving, or the application of crushed eggshells are just a few of the designs that can be made. Multicolored painting is our most difficult, time consuming process and produces our most beautiful designs. The paint is placed into cellophane paper which is in a shape of a pastry tube. Then the paint is squeezed free-hand style from the tube onto the lacquerware. Upon first inspection of our craftsmanship, it may be hard to believe that the human hand can consistently achieve such tiny and balanced features without mistakes. It takes many years of training to perfect this skill and a machine could not do such remarkable work.
We thank you and sincerely hope that you will cherish your newly purchased lacquerware for many generations to come.