LACQUER WARE. Three different processes are usually confounded under this term. The one prevailing in Burma is with the balsamic juices of trees, and was well known to Dampier in 1638, as he says, ' The lac of Tonquin is a sort of gummy juice which drains out of the bodies or limbs of trees, and the articles lacquered are cabinets, desks, etc.' Some chemical change no doubt takes place on exposure of these juices to the air. This kind of lacquered ware was much appreciated in the 18th century. Another kind of lacquer work is rather of the nature of papier mache, covered with one or more layers of lac varnish. This is the case with the lacquered boxes from Kashmir and Lahore, so remarkable for the beauty and elegance of their patterns.
The lacquered ware of China owes its lustrous colouring to a composition of lamp-black and the clarified juice obtained from a species of sumach, called Rhus vernix or R. vernicia. Wood oils are obtained from other plants of the same and the different qualities of lacquered ware are owing to the use of these various ingredients. The body of the ware is wood partially smoothed, or pasteboard, upon which two or three coats of a composition of lime, paper, and gum are first laid, and thoroughly dried and rubbed. The surface of the wood is also hardened by rubbing coarse clay upon it, and afterwards scraping it off when dry. Two coatings of lamp-black and wood oil, or, in the finer articles, of lamp-black and varnish, are laid upon the prepared wood, and, after drying, the clear varnish is brushed on, one coating after another, with the utmost care, in close and darkened rooms, allowing it to dry well between the several coats. The articles are then laid by to be painted and gilded according to the fancy of customers ; after which a last coating is given them. The varnish is brought to market in brownish cakes, and reduced to its proper fluidity by boiling ; it is applied to many purposes of both a varnish and paint, when it is commonly mixed with a red or brown colour. A beautiful fabric of lacquered ware is made by inlaying the nacre of fresh and salt water shells in a rough mosaic of flowers, animals. etc., into the composi tion, and then varnishing it. Another kind, highly prized by the Chinese, is made by covering the wood with a coating of red varnish three or four lines in thickness, and then carving figures upon it in relief. The great labour necessary to pro duce this ware renders it expensive. A common substitute for the Rhus varnish is the oils of the Dryandra, Jatropha, Croton, and other members of the Euphorbiaceous family, expressed from their seeds by cylinders and pestles. The oil, after
pressing, according to De Guignes, is boiled with Spanish white in the proportion of one ounce to half a pound of oil ; as it begins to thicken, it is taken off and poured into close vessels. It dis solves in turpentine, and is used as a varnish, either clear or mixed with different colours ; it defends wood-work from injury for a long time, and forms a good painter's oil. Boiled with iron rust, it forms a reddish-brown varnish. In order to prevent its penetrating into the wood when used clear, and to increase the lustre, a priming of lime and hog's blood simmered together into a paste is previously laid on.
The beautiful lacquer ware made near Nankin is considered far superior to that which is made in Kwang-tung and the other provinces. The process of the manufacture of a table, which has a landscape with figures delineated on the top in gold, may be thus described. The timber being first put together, and rendered perfectly smooth, is covered with transparent paper, 'besmeared with pork fat. As soon as this paper is quite dry, it is covered with a paste made from a peculiar clay. When this substance has become completely dry and hard, it is rubbed down with a whetstone, to remove all inequalities of surface ; as soon as this process is complete, the lacquer is laid on, then allowed to dry and harden, when the process is again repeated three or four times, the lacquer being allowed to become completely dry and hard between each several coating. The intended land scape is traced on the top of the table by throwing a fine white powder over paper on which the landscape has been traced by means of small perforations, thus forming the outline of the picture ; a minute instrument, somewhat resem bling a style, is drawn carefully over the perfora tions, by this means tracing the landscape on the surface of the table. The picture is then be smeared with a compound of size and red paint ;' the gold, first reduced to a powder, is then applied ; the raised appearance of the figures being produced by means of a preparation of gum combined with other ingredients. The picture is allowed to become perfectly dry, when, if re quisite, another coat of the lacquer or varnish is then added. To prepare this lacquer ware in perfection requires a lengthened period ; and a Chinese manufacturer mentioned that to produce a fine specimen, elaborately painted, six months ought to elapse between the commencement and the termination of the work, thus affording time for each coat of lacquer to become .thoroughly hardened before another is applied.