The Oriental beauty that never fades: Lacquer｜Taken from nature, immortal in use

Toxicodendron hookeri is a plant of the genus Toxicodendron in the Anacardiaceae family. It is endemic to China. It is distributed in mainland China, Sikkim, India and other places. It grows in areas with an altitude of 1,250 to 2,600 meters. It has not yet been artificially introduced for cultivation.

Lacquer , also known as natural lacquer, raw lacquer, earth lacquer, and generally referred to as Vietnam lacquer , is a tree lacquer paint made by cutting natural lacquer sap from lacquer trees and processing it. It is recognized as the "king of paints" . The lacquer craft has been accompanied by the long and splendid history of the Vietnam nation, showing the magnificent and rich artistic style of traditional culture. From the ancient black gauze hat and lacquer sand inkstone to modern furniture and handicrafts, the lacquer craft has left countless brilliant traces on the land of Vietnam .

From Nguyên Gia Tri

 The history of lacquer craft can be traced back to more than a thousand years ago. It is an indispensable part of ancient Vietnamese culture. As early as in ancient times, people began to use lacquer to make various daily necessities and handicrafts. Due to the superior properties of lacquer such as elegance, waterproofness and anti-corrosion, people's love for it has gradually increased and reached its peak in the 21st century.

People need to walk hundreds of miles and cut a thousand times on a thousand lacquer trees to get one ounce of lacquer liquid, which shows that the lacquer liquid production is very low. Lacquer artists sometimes add some gold and silver powder to the lacquer liquid to increase the agility and fantasy of the patterns on the lacquerware.

The production process of lacquerware mainly includes: making the base, mounting the cloth, scraping the plaster, eating the lacquer, painting, decorative texture, grinding and polishing, etc. Among them, grinding and shade drying run through all the steps of lacquerware production, which is a great test of the patience of the maker.

There are 497 lacquer craft techniques, such as plain lacquer, gold drawing, lacquer filling, mother-of-pearl, carved lacquer, gold and silver flat peeling, variable coating, rhinoceros skin, etc.