Heritage · the lacquer of Fuzhou
A vessel with no body
In Fuzhou, lacquer learned to stand on its own. Cloth soaked in raw lacquer is built up layer by layer over a mould. When it has hardened, the mould is taken away. What is left is lacquer, and nothing else.
Read on ↓
A craftsman and an old plaque
The technique is credited to Shen Shao'an, a lacquer craftsman in Fuzhou in the Qing dynasty, around the reigns of the Qianlong and Jiaqing emperors.
The most repeated story goes like this. He was repairing an old plaque. The painted surface had worn away, but the layer of cloth glued inside was still as firm as the day it was laid. If cloth and lacquer could hold a plaque together for so long, why not make whole objects from them?
Some tellings say he was rediscovering an ancient method called jiazhu, dry lacquer on cloth, which had been lost for centuries. Accounts differ, and the plaque may be a legend. What the official record does say is that the craft was created by Shen Shao'an, building on thousands of years of Chinese lacquer work.
“Bodiless” is the point: the shape is lacquer through and through.
How a lacquer shell is made
The steps below are the general method of Fuzhou bodiless lacquer, as described by the official heritage record and reports on it.
- 01
A mould
A form in clay, plaster or wood gives the object its shape.
- 02
Cloth and raw lacquer
Fine cloth is glued on with raw lacquer, one layer after another, and left to dry.
- 03
The mould comes out
Once hard, the mould is broken or lifted out. The shell is lacquer and cloth only.
- 04
Filling and polishing
The surface is filled, ground smooth and lacquered again, then polished back until it is even.
- 05
Colour and decoration
Colour and pattern go on last, in the traditional ways listed below.
Traditional Fuzhou decoration includes
- Coloured lacquer with gold shading
- Brocade patterns
- Gold painted on red lacquer
- Raised patterns set with mother-of-pearl inlay
The finished pieces are light, yet strong.
The world took notice
Qing dynasty
Shen Shao'an creates the bodiless lacquer technique in Fuzhou.
From 1898
Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware begins winning awards at international expositions.
1905
Reported to have received imperial honours from the Qing court.
1926
Reported to have won an award at the exposition in Philadelphia, in the United States.
After 1949
Artists such as Li Zhiqing and Gao Xiuquan bring new advances in design and lacquer decoration. Reports say works were shown in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
2006
“Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware lacquering technique” is placed on the first national list of intangible cultural heritage (item VIII-54).
A craft that needs people
The official heritage record is honest about the present. It says that, under pressure from the market, many old workshops have closed and many practitioners have moved on. Some techniques, among them yinjin and taihua, are no longer practised, and it calls for the craft to be protected before more is lost.
That is part of why we care. A tradition like this lives in hands, not in records. Every person who still lacquers, and everyone who chooses to wear or keep what they make, helps keep it going.
Where our pieces fit
We want to be clear about this. Our pieces are small lacquered jewellery and objects. Some use mother-of-pearl inlay, one of the decorative techniques of Fuzhou lacquer. They are not bodiless lacquerware, and we do not claim they are made by recognised heritage inheritors.
How our own pieces are made is still being confirmed with our workshop. When we can tell that story accurately, and with the makers’ agreement, we will tell it here.