Lacquered items have been found
in ancient tombs in Vietnam dating as far back as the third and fourth
centuries B.C. Over the centuries,
Vietnamese master craftsmen and artists have mastered techniques using lacquer
for purpose of decoration and preservation.
Lacquer paintings now can compete successfully with silk and oil
paintings and have the unique character of this style of painting.
Artistic Characteristics:
Lacquer traditionally comes in
three colors - brown, black and vermilion.
By the 1930s, artists started to use a new technique known as chiseling
which gives a richer mix of colors and an added sense of size and distance..
The painting is done on
wood. It is covered with a piece of
cloth glued to it using the sap of the lacquer tree and then coated with a
layer of the sap mixed with earth. The
board is then sand papered and recoated with a layer of hot sap. After polishing, this gives a smooth black
surface with a brilliant luster.
The painter uses hot lacquer to
draw the outline of a picture and the colors are applied one by one, layer upon
layer. Each coat dries slowly.
The finishing touches consist of
polishing and washing the pictures. This
process may seem like brutal treatment for a work of art, but it is done with
great care. This process leaves a
brilliant surface on a painting.
Through years of experience and
experimentation, the artists use the addition of other substances such as plant
material ash, crushed eggshells, gold and silver to embelish their works. These
additional substances help the modern artists to express themselves fully and
to further add creativity and individuality of style to their art works
