LACQUERWARE PRODUCTION PROCESS

A quality lacquer ware product of which each item is produced with all of craftsmen’s devotion, creation and experience and takes at least 90 days and 20 stages to be completed.

The frame work is usually made of plywood for pictures, jack-tree-wood for small articles like boxes, bottles, bowls, dishes etc.., rose wood for furniture or sometimes fabric or paper or ceramic also can be used. The wood must be eliminated insects (termites, ants, woodborers) and carefully prepared to prevent cracking and damage.
The 20 labor phases which consist of the following principal stages :

1/ Stage 1 :     Polish the wood or the plywood with emery-paper.

                          Give coat of lacquer on it.

                          Relief shell, egg shell inlaid product can be applied from this stage.

2/ Stage 2 :  Envelope the object with ordinary cloth to avoid damage, cracking, reducing or deformed, out of shape by the weather. Before enveloping the cloth, put on the surface of the wood a coat of lacquer and then on the cloth a new coat of lacquer. After, put the object warmly in close room. When it becomes dry, use the emery-paper for polishing.

3/ Stage 3 :   On the coat of the cloth, spread a plastic composition of red fine clay, plaster and lacquer. Put the object warmly in the close room. Repeat 3 times.

4/ Stage 4 :   For preserving the plastic composition, continue to put more 3 times of lacquer on it. After each time, dry warmly and pumice with emery-paper and clean with water.

Finally, put a coat of lacquer which color is in accordance with the base of the subject model.

5/ Stage 5 :   Painted product can be started from this stage.

The color paint is mixed from lacquer and color powder. When the picture is dry, put on the painting a coat of red-brown lacquer. Let it dry before polishing.

6/ Stage 6 :  The paint and colors are under a coat of brown lacquer if the product is a painted one, of black, red or another color if the product is a shell inlaid one.

7/ Stage 7 :   Pumicing is the most important stage. It decides the value of the lacquer product.

The product is put in a place having light and chocked up by thick cloth to prevent damage. During the pumicing operation, it is necessary to wash the painting with water in order to avoid tearing the wood. That is pumicing by fine emery-paper or cuttle fish bone and pumicing equally.

If the pumicing operation is well done, the picture and colors will appear on the surface of the painting. After pumicing, the product must be cleaned properly and let dry warmly.

8/ Stage 8 :   Polishing is the final work-stage of a lacquer product. The production of lacquer ware, up to now, the polishing above all, is made manually. Polishing with the hand,  that is to rub many times on the surface of the product.

Use fine powder charcoal ( put in a bag of cloth ) and polish until the product becomes completely glossy.

At the end, clean with oil for shining the lacquer product.

In this way, even a small lacquer product like box, pot requires at least 3 months for making from the frame work until completely finished. Thus, the lacquer product is guaranteed from cracking and other damages.

Generally, lacquer ware are produced according to different types as follows :

1.      Paint with powder or leaf of gold or silver.

2.      Paint and cover with brown lacquer or varnish.

3.      Incrust with mother-of-pearl.

4.      Incrust with egg shell.

5.      Engraving low.

6.      Model in relief ..etc..

1.      Paint with powder or leaf of gold or silver :

For sticking the gold or silver leaf on the surface of the wood body, a thin coat of lacquer is covered first, use blotting paper to absorb the lacquer and put on the wood the gold or silver sheets leaf by leaf, then stroke delicately and take the paper covering these sheets off. With the silver or gold powder, just spread a thin layer of powder on it. When the silver or gold coat is dry, drawing and applying color is started.

2.      Paint and cover with brown lacquer or varnish :

After applying colors on the picture, cover on the wood a coat of red-brown or transparent lacquer.

3.      Incrust with mother-of-pearl :

Mother-of-pearl is often used because it has many colors comparing with other sea shells.

Relief : Incrust on the coat of the plastic composition by putting on mother-of-pearl piece by piece. Dry warmly. Cover 2 or 3 times of lacquer for equalizing with the coach of mother-of-pearl and pumicing. The subject appears with mother-of-pearl on the surface of the wood.

Hollow : Incrust on the surface already prepared and cover with lacquer which is not prepared yet to fix the mother-of-pearl, the cover 2 or 3 times for covering completely the object.

4. Incrust with egg shell : To get purely white color, natural eggshell is used, especially with duck egg. Burnt or ground egg shell is also used to get different or shade of color. The method of incrusting egg shell is the same as of mother-of-pearl.

5. Engraving low : After shining the lacquered wood, calk the motif and use a sharp and pointed instrument and engrave low, then apply colors. Goache or oil paint can be used.

6. Model in relief : After shining, use a powder of wood mixed with the plastic composition or lacquer and model in relief the motif.

Lacquer wood cut - Painter Truong Ngoc Tran