Editing Lacquerware (section)

==Southeast Asia==
===Burmese lacquerware===
[[File:Burmese lacquerware.JPG|thumb|Burmese lacquerware – a private collection]]

''Yun-de'' is lacquerware in [[Burmese language|Burmese]], and the art is called ''Pan yun'' ({{Lang|my|[[:my:ပန်းယွန်း|ပန်းယွန်း]]}}). The lacquer is the sap tapped from the varnish tree or ''Thitsee'' (''[[Gluta usitata]]'', syn. ''Melanorrhoea usitata'') that grows wild in the forests of [[Myanmar]] (formerly Burma).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dict.die.net/melanorrhoea%20usitatissima/|title=Melanorrhoea usitatissima|publisher=die.net online dictionary|access-date=2007-03-31}}</ref> It is straw-colored but turns black on exposure to air. When brushed in or coated on, it forms a hard glossy smooth surface resistant to a degree from the effects of exposure to moisture or heat.

====History====
The earliest fragments of lacquerware basketry found in [[Bagan]] dates back to the 13th century. Evidence for older lacquerware in Bagan remains inconclusive.<ref>{{cite web |last=Berengueres |date=2007 |url=http://www.baganlacquerwarecluster.org/ancient-history-and-tradition-bagan-lacquerware |title=Ancient History and Tradition of Bagan Lacquerware}}</ref>

[[Bayinnaung]]'s conquest and subjugation in 1555–1562 of [[Manipur]], [[Bhamo]], Zinme ([[Chiang Mai]]), Linzin ([[Lan Xang]]), and up the Taping and Shweli rivers in the direction of [[Yunnan]] brought back large numbers of skilled craftsmen into Burma. It is thought that the finer sort of Burmese lacquerware, called Yun, was introduced during this period by imported artisans belonging to the Yun or [[Northern Thai people|Northern Thai]] people of the Chiang Mai region.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/Burma/bur_history.pd|title=Burma|author=D.G.E. Hall|year=1960|publisher=Hutchinson University Library|pages=42}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

====Manufacture and design====
[[File:Green tea and peanut nibbles (10808703485).jpg|thumb|Pickled tea, called [[lahpet]], is traditionally served in a lacquer tray called ''laphet ok''.]]
Lacquer vessels, boxes and trays have a coiled or woven bamboo-strip base often mixed with horsehair. The thitsee may be mixed with ashes or sawdust to form a putty-like substance called ''thayo'' which can be sculpted. The object is coated layer upon layer with thitsee and thayo to make a smooth surface, polished and engraved with intricate designs, commonly using red, green and yellow colors on a red or black background. ''Shwezawa'' is a distinctive form in its use of gold leaf to fill in the designs on a black background.<ref name="Blurton">{{cite web|url=http://www.fathom.com/feature/190126/index.html|title=A Path to Burmese Culture: The Art of Lacquer|first=Richard|last=Blurton|year=2002|publisher=The British Museum/Fathom|access-date=2007-03-31|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404024334/http://www.fathom.com/feature/190126/index.html|archive-date=2007-04-04}}</ref><ref name="ao">{{cite web|url=http://www.artfromburma.com/cat.cfm?cat=2 |title=Burmese Lacquerware Collection |publisher=Art Only |year=2006 |access-date=2007-03-31 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930005757/http://www.artfromburma.com/cat.cfm?cat=2 |archive-date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref>

Palace scenes, scenes from the [[Jataka]] tales, and the signs of the Burmese [[Zodiac]] are popular designs and some vessels may be encrusted with glass mosaic or semi-precious stones in gold relief.<ref name="ao"/> The objects are all handmade and the designs and engraving done free-hand. It may take three to four months to finish a small vessel but perhaps over a year for a larger piece. The finished product is a result of teamwork and not crafted by a single person.<ref name="Blurton"/>

====Forms====
The most distinctive vessel is probably a rice bowl on a stem with a spired lid for monks called ''hsun ok''. ''Lahpet ok'' is a shallow dish with a lid and has a number of compartments for serving ''[[lahpet]]'' (pickled tea) with its various accompaniments. Stackable [[tiffin carrier]]s fastened with a single handle or ''hsun gyaink'' are usually plain red or black. ''[[Daunglan]]'' are low tables for meals and may be simple broad based or have three curved feet in animal or floral designs with a lid. Water carafes or ''yeidagaung'' with a cup doubling as a lid, and vases are also among lacquerware still in use in many monasteries.<ref name="Blurton"/><ref name="ao"/>

Various round boxes with lids, small and large, are known as ''yun-it'' including ones for [[paan]] called ''kun-it'' ({{Langx|my|[[:my:ကွမ်းအစ်|ကွမ်းအစ်]]}}; betel boxes). ''Yun titta'' are rectangular boxes for storing various articles including ''peisa'' or palm leaf manuscripts when they are called ''sadaik titta''. Pedestal dishes or small trays with a stem with or without a lid are known as ''kalat'' for serving delicacies or offering flowers to royalty or the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]. Theatrical troupes and musicians have their lacquerware in costumes, masks, head-dresses, and musical instruments, some of them stored and carried in lacquer trunks.<ref name="ao"/> Boxes in the shape of a pumpkin or a bird such as the owl, which is believed to bring luck, or the ''[[Hamsa bird|hintha]]'' ([[Ruddy shelduck|Brahminy duck]]) are common too. Screens and small polygonal tables are also made for the tourist trade today.

====Industry====
[[Bagan]] is the major centre for the lacquerware industry where the handicraft has been established for nearly two centuries, and still practiced in the traditional manner. Here a government school of lacquerware was founded in the 1920s. Since plastics, porcelain and metal have superseded lacquer in most everyday utensils, it is today manufactured in large workshops mainly for tourists who come to see the ancient temples of Bagan. At the village of Kyaukka near [[Monywa]] in the [[Chindwin River|Chindwin]] valley, however, sturdy lacquer utensils are still produced for everyday use mainly in plain black.<ref name="Blurton"/>

A decline in the number of visitors combined with the cost of resin, which has seen a 40-fold rise in 15 years, has led to the closure of over two-thirds of more than 200 lacquerware workshops in Bagan.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14946|author=Kyi Wai|title=Burmese Lacquerware Loses Its Shine|publisher=[[The Irrawaddy]], January 19, 2009|access-date=2009-03-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811123843/http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14946|archive-date=August 11, 2010}}</ref>

===Vietnamese lacquer painting and lacquerware===
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2020}}
[[File:National Museum of Vietnamese History March 2nd, 2018 120.jpg|thumb|Lacquerware, [[Nguyễn dynasty]], Vietnam]]
[[File:Temple furnishings in crimson and gold, Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi (7) (26723390309).jpg|thumb|A [[folding screen]] using Vietnamese lacquer]]
[[File:Painting Thieu nu va phong canh of Nguyen Gia Tri (back side).jpg|thumb|A lacquered folding screen]]
''Sơn mài'' is a painting technique in [[Vietnam]]. It developed from the painters of the Hanoi [[EBAI]] in the 1930s and today is counted a national painting style with many famous painters.

In 1924 the [[École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine|Ecole des Beaux Arts]] was established in [[Hanoi]]. This institution was to be the birthplace of the revitalised art of lacquer painting. In 1934 the school opened its lacquer department and it was from here that well known contributors to the art including; Bui Trang Chuoc, Nguyen Van Binh, Nguyen Khang, Nguyen Duc Nung, Nguyen Tien Chung, and Pham Van Don would emerge.

It was the first generation of Vietnamese students of the Indochina School of Fine Art during the 1930s, who elevated the craft of lacquer painting to a truly fine art. Less interested in decor than their craftsmen predecessors, it was also these men who would begin a series of artistic innovations from which craftsmen producing purely utilitarian or decorative pieces would also benefit.

Creating images with crushed eggshell, painting pigment over gold and tin foil and adding sand to lacquer were all techniques developed by those first students. The metallic color lacquerware for which Vietnamese craftsmen are rightly famous, was first developed by artists experimenting with many innovative techniques.

After the [[Reunification Palace|reunification]], the art of lacquerware was slowly dying out in Vietnam. But since the 1980s, the government has recognized it as a vital cultural and economic force and has encouraged the business community to invest in the craft. As a result, we see a resurgence of lacquerware and a proliferation of lacquerware products from Vietnam.