Lacquer
Dozens of layers, each dried and polished before the next. Eggshell and mother-of-pearl inlay let the surface carry an image rather than merely a finish.
In preparation · Fuzhou, Yangzhou and Pingyao, China; Ha Thai and Chuyen My, Vietnam
The craft
Bodiless lacquer, eggshell inlay and mother-of-pearl inlay.
The official heritage project name and level have not been verified for a specific workshop, so no heritage listing is claimed here.
Maker series: Maker selection in progress.
What the work is about
A lacquer surface is built, not applied. The number of layers and the wait between them are the reason a single piece takes months, and the reason it cannot be rushed for a season.
A lacquer panel weighs far less than a porcelain plaque of comparable presence and will not shatter in transit. That changes which forms are worth offering at all.
Mother-of-pearl inlay is treated as part of this category rather than a separate one, so a small number of pieces can be presented coherently.
In preparation · no pieces listed
We do not list objects we cannot show
This category is being assessed against the same 7-dimension model used for the porcelain line. A named maker, real object photography, measured dimensions and the documents below come before any listing.
Register an interestAdmission criteria
What has to be true before a piece from this category can appear here.
- Solvent and heavy-metal test reports for the finished object before listing
- Moisture- and light-stable packing specification documented for the form
- A named workshop with the full process and production cycle stated
- One-of-a-kind or tightly limited pieces; no decal or printed imitation of inlay
- Real object photography, including the inlay surface at close range
Evidence on hand
Stated as fact only where a document or a photograph can be shown.
- No pieces are listed. No laboratory report or workshop documentation has been published for this category yet.
Guide prices, planned ranges, category scores and compliance claims are not published for preparing categories. Nothing here is a promise of availability.