MYANMAR LACQUERWARE

Myanmar lacquer ware in particular has developed into art form of refined quality. Its history can be traced to China’s Shang dynasty (18th to 11th centuries B.C.). The craft reached the area of present-day Burma in the 1st century A.D by way of the Nan-ch’ ao Empire (modern Yunnan), and is believed to have been carried to Bagan during Anawrahta’s conquest of Thaton in 1057. Today it thrives in Northern Thailand and Laos as well as in Burma.

Raw Lacquer ware is tapped from the thitsi tree (Melanorrhoea Usitatissima) in the same way as latex is taken from the rubbers tree. As soon as the sticky-gray extract comes in contact with the air, it turns hard and black.

In times past, extraordinarily fine lacquerware bowls were produced around cores of horsehair and bamboo, or even pure horse-hair. This gave such great flexibility that one could press opposite sides of the bowl’s rim together, without the bowl breaking or the lacquer peeling off.

Today, two other techniques of manufacture prevail. Inferior products have a gilded lacquer relief on a wooden base. Better quality wares have a core of light bamboo wicker work, assuring elasticity and durability.

This basic structure is coated with a layer of lacquer ad clay, then put in a cool, airy place to dry. After three or four days, the vessel is sealed with a paste of lacquer and ash, the fineness of ash determining the quality of the work. It may come from sawdust, paddy husk or even cow dung. After this coating dries, the object is polished smooth. Over a period of time it is given several successive coats of lacquer to eliminate irregularities.

At this stage, the ware is black. But the artist isn’t finished: ornamental and figurative designs must still be added. Cheaper articles are simply painted. The more expensive ones are embellished by means of engraving, painting and polishing. A similar effect can be produced with colored reliefs, painted and partially polished. Red, yellow, blue and gold are the colors usually used. The production of a mutli-colored lacquer ware vessel takes about six month, as it must go through 12 or more stages of production.

Bagan and Prome are Burma’s main lacquer ware centers. There, visitors can purchase quality vases, jewel boxes, dinnerware sets and other items.