Burmese lacquer

Burmese lacquer

Visitors to my shop http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Naga-Store will
find many excellent examples of Burmese lacquerware made at workshops
in Bagan, the main centre of lacquer design and production in Burma.

Lacquer is tree sap, which sets as a natural flexible plastic resistant
to water, heat and insect damage. It can be applied to a wide variety
of surfaces such as wood, leather, metal and palm-leaf, but it is most
frequently used on split, coiled or woven bamboo and sometimes teak. Virtually all
of the pieces in my shop fall into the last category. As well as being
used in its liquid form as varnish, glue or ink, the sap can be mixed
with ash or sawdust to create a putty or thayo which can be sculpted.
Lacquerware production
Many of the lacquer production processes used today are the same as
those recorded 170 years ago. Lacquer vessels are made by hand, and can
undergo many different processes during production. Depending on the
intricacy of the decoration, it can take three to four months to
complete a small vessel while larger pieces can take over a year. No
lacquer piece is the product of a single hand, but is the result of
specialists in different techniques working together.

Lacquer vessels are not solid lacquer, but have wood, bamboo or
horsehair base coated with layers of thayo putty and liquid lacquer to
create their characteristic smooth surface. The Burmese word yun means both lacquer and a decorative engraving technique. Although gilding and relief decoration are also used, yun is the most common technique used on lacquerware and most of the items I sell conform to this method of production.
Yun
Yun deocration is made up of a
series or tiny lines engraved on the surface of the lacquer object,
which are then filled with coloured lacquer. The most common colours
for yun designs are red,
green, yellow and orange on red or black backgrounds. The majority of
the engraving is done free hand. There are no pattern books, nor is it
neccessary for the design to be measured out first, it is all arranged
by eye. The decoration of a single object requires thousands of
engraved lines with the design for the red, yellow, orange or green
engraved, coloured and finally dried seperately. The designer often
undertakes the engraving of the more complicated elements, while young
understudies fuill in much of the detail.
Uses of lacquer
The properties of lacquer, both as a protective sealant and as a medium
for decoration, mean that the opportunities for its use are practically
limitless. In the average Burmese household, it was particularly
useful for making vessels used for the storage, preparartion and
consumption of rice such as storage pails, steamers, serving trays,
food stands, and cooked rice containers. Lacquered vessels were also
used for other foodstuffs, including liquids such as oils. The main
meal may have been accompanied with water served from a carafe,
preceded by snacks served from a lahpet tray and perhaps after the meal
a digestive from the betel box. All of these items were made of
lacquered basketry, either woven or coiled.
Modern lacquer work
The production of lacquer
vessels continues in modern day Burma or Myanmar. The main centre for
production is Bagan in central Burma, historic capital of ancient
Burma, and where I buy all my lacquerware from. The government started
a school in the 1920's and today there are dozens of different
workshops producing some standard designs but many specialising in the
production of certain specialities. Bagan also specialises in the
intricate yun technique
described earlier. Some of the larger items in my shop took many months
to produce and pieces can also be made by commission, which I can
arrange if you have a particular item in mind.