Lacquer, a tree sap from the Chinese lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum) species, is processed and pigmented with ground cinnabar, a red mercury sulphide pigment of which vermillion is the human-made equivalent. The pigmented lacquer is applied layer upon layer over a wooden or metal core. More than a hundred layers of lacquer may be applied for high-quality works, and more than 200 for the finest. Applied only in the thinnest layers because its chemical make-up requires oxygen to harden, one layer of lacquer can take at least twenty-four hours, up to several days to harden. Therefore, a thickness built up of thirty layers would take over a month to prepare, and for the finest works, one to two years to prepare. This is before the carving itself even starts, requiring much patience on behalf of those who commissioned it to await delivery of the finished work.
Such a large investment of time to make carved lacquer pieces required a workshop set-up, with different artists and craftspeople specialising in varying aspects of their creation. Many of these workshops made pieces specifically for the imperial family and court (including diplomatic exchanges). However, there were also commercial workshops most often in the southern regions of China, who would take commissions from Buddhist or Daoist temples, and from the wealthy who were eager to display their good fortune. While there are no inscriptions indicating origin or date on Chinese carved lacquer pieces in the NGV Collection, their imagery may suggest links to the imperial workshops, such as the round Box from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), decorated with imperial emblems including the dragon and phoenix.
Cinnabar and its synthetically made equivalent vermillion were the most commonly used pigments to colour lacquer to be carved, but other pigments were also used. The NGV’s polychrome lacquer (ticai) Box, also known as a ‘princess box’, offers an example. Ticai was popular from the Jiajing reign (1522–66) of the Ming dynasty and was created by building up lacquer layers in three blocks of colour, with yellow at the base (perhaps twenty layers for each section, this one likely pigmented with orpiment and realgar, arsenic sulphide mineral pigments), a brownish-green in the middle of as yet unknown pigmentation, and the warm red of cinnabar at the top. Some chipped edges from past damage to the carved ornament allow us to see the vibrant layered construction more clearly. These colours are some of the few pigments not chemically affected or darkened by lacquer. Importantly for the craftsperson, they also help define the levels of background, middle ground, and foreground for the decoration.
Detail of 3744-D4 Box with dragons, phoenix and flowers showing cross-section of yellow, green and red lacquer at an old area of loss on a phoenix wing.
This small Box with fragrant grass design is decorated with spiral patterns, known as tixi (also often known by the Japanese word guri). The patterns have a yellow pigmented lacquer or perhaps foundation layer at the very bottom of the grooves; the fine black layers of pigmented lacquer were helpful for the carver to create even gradients as they carved – an uneven or deviating line meant they had carved too deeply or not deep enough.
Box with fragrant grass design, Chinese, 624.a-b-D4 (late 14th-15th century), Felton Bequest 1947.
Another purpose for the different-coloured lacquer layers was to signal to the carver the depth to carve, such as where the background ‘diaper’ – carved geometric patterns, usually in the background of the decoration – should begin. The sixteenth century Dish with peonies has been in the NGV Collection since 1867 and was one of the Gallery’s the earliest acquisitions of Asian art. Two pieces of carved ornament from this dish had become detached in the past and kept in the artwork dossier, affording a chance to examine the construction more closely. There are slight differences in the colours of the red lacquer, with the lower levels perhaps having a different red coloured pigment (perhaps a cheaper pigment was used as it wouldn’t be as visible deep in the carving), followed by a thin black line defining the border between the lower carved diaper pattern, and the upper floral carved design.
Detached piece of carved lacquer, from the underside of the dish 1645-D1A, showing the diaper pattern background, a fine black line of a few layers of black lacquer, and the higher floral carving above.
Detached piece seen from the side, revealing the black pigmented lacquer line to distinguish the background diaper carving depth from the raised ornament.
A tiny fragment comprising around 1 mm thickness of red lacquer was examined and the cross-section viewed in visible and ultra-violet light revealed at least seventeen layers of red-pigmented lacquer applied over a black foundation layer. Given the ornament carved on this dish is about 9 mm deep, we can estimate that the total number of lacquer layers applied to create the depth for carving this dish is around 150.
Cross-section of a tiny detached piece of lacquer from 1645-D1A, viewed in visible and ultra-violet light, which revealed at least seventeen layers of red-pigmented lacquer applied over two preparatory layers (black pigmented and coarse grey).
Diaper patterns were carved by specialists who only worked on these geometric designs and are seen in lacquered objects from around the fourteenth century onwards. Deriving from textile brocade patterns, diaper would often represent a specific element, such as land, water, and air. A detail of the NGV’s round Box with Amur paradise flycatcher birds and lychee, from the Yongle period (1403-1424) of the Ming dynasty, displays the wide variety of these conventionalised patterns. Their intricacy boggles the mind when you consider these were created with only hand tools, no magnifying equipment, and likely under poor lighting conditions. For a conservator, they sometimes provide an insight into the hand of the artist, as their complexity may reveal the odd mistake – a hint that there is a human behind this otherwise extraordinarily fine almost mechanical precision. This box with a pair of carved birds among a lychee tree shows how many different diapers you can fit on the one small work. Each lychee fruit has a unique pattern, such as a diamond or a hexagon enclosing stylised flowers, Buddhist swastika repeats and basketry-like patterns, which are all ‘land’ diapers. ‘Water’ diapers are more obvious, being curved wave-like forms, or more stylised triangular peaks. ‘Air’ diapers are usually horizontal-oriented linear patterns, which can be seen on other carved landscape or palace scene decorated lacquer works.
Box with Amur paradise flycatcher birds and lychee, Chinese, 1538.a-b-D5. Ming dynasty, Yongle period 1403-1424, Felton Bequest 1968.
As Asian lacquer is light-sensitive and its surfaces can mark easily with fingerprints, lacquered objects are usually displayed with low lighting and behind glazing. This of course makes it a challenge for visitors to see such details described here. However, high-resolution images are found on our Collection Online portal should you wish to lose yourself deeper into the carved landscapes or revel in the mastery of skills on show.
This article was originally published in NGV Magazine Issue 39 Mar-Apr 2023
Suzi Shaw is Conservator of Frames and Furniture at NGV.