Yangzhou Lacquerware
       The traditional lacquerware craftsmanship of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province originated in the Qin and Han Dynasties more than 2,000 years ago, developed in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

It has a strong national art and regional characteristics. Zhou Zhu, an artist in Yangzhou in the Ming Dynasty, pioneered the “lacquerware inlay” craft of carving landscapes, figures, flowers, pavilions, feathers and other high-end materials with gold, silver, jewelry, jade, agate, crystal, tortoise shells, etc., and inlaying them on sandalwood lacquerware. Over the past thousands of years, the art of Yangzhou lacquerware has gradually formed a unique style of “stable shape, fine workmanship, rich luster, and unique shape”, and famous varieties such as carved red lacquer, flat-ground mother-of-pearl inlay, soft mother-of-pearl inlay, and treasure inlay (Zhou system). Yangzhou lacquerware is known as China’s “three major lacquerware” together with Beijing lacquerware and Fujian bodiless lacquerware.

Chengdu lacquerware
       According to historical records, Sichuan has been producing lacquer and cinnabar since ancient times, and Chengdu is one of the earliest birthplaces of Chinese lacquerware. In 2000, a large number of lacquerware with fine workmanship, colorful patterns and still bright appearance were found in the Warring States ship coffins unearthed in Chengdu, indicating that the lacquerware of the Shu people in the Warring States period was very developed.

A large number of exquisite lacquerware unearthed from the world-famous Mawangdui Western Han Dynasty Tomb in Changsha, Hunan, most of which are branded with “Chengshi Cao” and “Chengshi Bao” (i.e. Chengdu made) and other inscriptions, have a history of more than 2,000 years. At that time, Chengdu was the manufacturing center of lacquerware in the country.

       Chengdu lacquerware is handmade, mainly using wood and earth lacquer as raw materials. According to the design requirements, the wood is turned into shape and then processed with various colors of lacquer. Its decorative techniques include: carving, inlaying, tracing, painting, piling, pasting, etc. Among them, carved color filling and silver flake silk are the unique styles of Chengdu lacquerware, and the skills are unique in the same industry in the country.

Beijing Lacquerware
       Beijing’s lacquerware should have been produced in the Yuan Dynasty at the latest. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has always been an important part of palace decoration. Due to different production processes, Beijing’s lacquerware can be said to be of various varieties. In addition to the common varieties such as three-dimensional inlay, treasure inlay and painting, some other techniques are also applied to the production of lacquerware, resulting in lacquerware varieties such as carving and filling and carved ash.

       Carved and filled lacquerware is painted on a wooden base after plastering and multiple lacquering. Then, according to the pattern, shallow and fine lines are outlined, and then gold and silver powder or colored paint is added. The carved and filled lacquerware made through the above processes is richer in artistic expression than the carved ash lacquerware carved on the ash ground. As an important variety of lacquerware, there were not many in existence during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Even fewer have been circulated in society, and most of them are now collected by some large museums. In the past two years, as the appreciation ability of collectors has improved, carved and filled lacquerware has gradually been recognized by people.

Fujian Lacquerware
       Bodiless lacquerware is one of the three treasures of Fuzhou, with a history of more than 200 years. It is solid and light, elegant and unique in shape, gorgeous and bright in color, finely decorated, strong and durable, with unique national style and strong local characteristics. It is known as the “three treasures” of traditional Chinese handicrafts together with Beijing cloisonné and Jiangxi Jingdezhen porcelain.

       Fuzhou lacquerware began in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said that during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, lacquer craftsman Shen Shaoan found that although the wood of the plaque on the gate of a temple had decayed, the base of the lacquer gray summer cloth was intact. Careful Shen Shaoan was inspired by it. After returning home, he kept pondering and experimenting, inherited and carried forward the traditional lacquer art, and created the earliest bodiless lacquerware. Shen Shaoan thus became the originator of Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware.

       The production methods of bodiless lacquerware are divided into two types: bodiless and wooden. The process of bodiless lacquerware is to use clay, plaster, wooden molds, etc. as the base of the product, and then use summer cloth (linen) or silk cloth and raw lacquer to mount the base layer by layer, wait for it to dry in the shade, break or take off the original base, leaving the lacquer cloth shape, and then go through the process of graying, grinding, lacquer grinding, and applying various decorative patterns, and then it becomes a bright and gorgeous “bodiless lacquerware” handicraft.

Yangjiang Lacquerware
       Guangdong Yangjiang Lacquerware began in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and has a history of more than 300 years. Yangjiang lacquerware is divided into leather base, paper base, and wood base. The products mainly include daily crafts and furniture, among which leather base lacquerware has the most traditional characteristics. It is moisture-proof, durable, and elegant and beautiful. It was exported to Southeast Asian countries before liberation. After liberation, it was famous for lacquer boxes, lacquer pillows and small lacquerware. The traditional Yangjiang lacquer leather box is made of fir wood as the base, with a layer of cowhide on the inside and outside, reinforced and ironed, and then painted on the surface. Museums around the country use it to store celebrity calligraphy and paintings. The lacquer pillow is made by weaving a rattan outline on a wooden frame, then covering it with a layer of cowhide, ironing it and painting it. Its advantages are that it is sturdy, moisture-proof, water-resistant, lightweight and has no cracks.

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