Simplified Chinese lacquer techniques and Nanban style decoration on Luso-Asian objects from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries

Abstract

The meeting of multiple cultures and their mutual influence during the Portuguese expansion in Asia led to the emergence of different types of fusion styles in objects commissioned by the settlers, merchants, and religious orders present in Portuguese India. The east-Asian lacquer coatings of modestly sized wooden objects of various types dating from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries have been analyzed as part of the research for a doctoral thesis that aims to establish their cultural and geographical attribution within the context of the Getty Conservation Institute's lacquer research project. Among the objects were three seventeenthcentury lacquered trays from Portuguese museums and private collections that had previously been classified as Japanese Nanban, Chinese or Ryukyuan lacquers or even as Indo-Portuguese artifacts. The materials and techniques that were identified show close similarities with Chinese techniques mentioned in historic accounts -the only existing Ming Chinese Treatise on lacquering Xiushi lu and the eighteenth-century memoirs of the Jesuit priest d'Incarville. These nearly 400-year-old artifacts are among the first lacquered objects commissioned by Europeans and probably the first of Chinese origin. Their detailed technical study contributes to international lacquer research and complements existing knowledge and perceptions of the lacquering processes that were applied in response to an early European demand for exotic items.

Characterization and identification of lacquer films from the Qin and Han dynasties

“…These results led to the conclusion that the materials used in the black area were carbon, SiO2, CaCO3, and other mineral materials with Na, Mg, Al, Fe, and Mo. The main materials used in the red area were Chinese lacquer with cinnabar (HgS), which was consistent with the results in previous studies (Chiavari and Mazzeo 1999;Wei et al 2011;Wang et al 2014;Körber and Schilling 2016;Schilling et al 2016).…”

Some observations on the composition of Chinese lacquer

“…This material has a long tradition of use in mortars and plasters for architectural contexts (Zhao et al, 2015). In lacquer, pig's blood has been used as a primary binder or as a coating over the ground layer, especially in Chinese or Ryukyuan objects (Körber et al, 2016). In the course of our analytical investigations of a variety of Chinese lacquer objects, we have found blood to be a very common ingredient in Chinese ground layers, usually without the addition of Anacard lacquer.…”

Beyond the basics: A systematic approach for comprehensive analysis of organic materials in Asian lacquers

“…Additionally, the sulfide anion in this pigment also produces dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide in the presence of TMAH. Three markers for indigo, identified by Poulin (2007) in GC-MS analysis of dyed textiles, were found for green Ryukyuan lacquer that was analyzed using THM-Py-GC-MS (Körber et al, 2016). Finally, bone white and bone black produce trimethyl phosphate, a compound also formed by phospholipids in blood and egg.…”

“…. Lighter colored grounds on Asian lacquered objects from many countries may contain animal glue (Webb, 2000), whereas traditionally blood has been used in dark ground layers from Chinese and Ryukyuan objects (Körber et al, 2016). At a lacquer craft workshop held at Buffalo State College (Buffalo State College, 2013), Japanese lacquer masters demonstrated the use of tofu as a lightweight filler material that increases the volume of underlying lacquer layers.…”