Chinese Lacquerware: Technique and designs

Lacquerware is crafted using the sap of lacquer trees, which inhabit the entire Asia region. From ancient times, lacquerware has been produced and used not only in Japan but also in China, Korea, Southeast Asia and other Asian regions. Just as Japan developed techniques such as maki-e, in which smooth black lacquer is decorated with powdered gold, each of these regions and cultures developed their own unique techniques and expressions. Hence, lacquerware is a genre of decorative art that represents the cultural diversity of Asia.

This exhibition introduces lacquerware from China. In Chinese lacquerware, colors such as red, black, yellow and green are used, and decorative techniques include carving designs into thickly coated lacquer, using shell fragments to create designs in inlay, applying gold leaf into finely cut grooves, and creating inlaid designs using colored lacquers. These techniques were employed to express bold motifs such as five-clawed dragons (the Chinese symbol of the emperor), arabesque roundels, and pictorial expressions of birds, flowers, figures and palaces. Undecorated wares are also notable for their appealing forms. This exhibition highlights distinctive aspects of Chinese lacquerware, which is significantly different from Japanese works in the same genre.