Arte Povera or Lacca Pobre |
“Poor man’s lacquer”. In the 18th Century, Italian lacquer artists perfected a technique of sticking coloured paper reproductions of people, animals, pagodas, etc. onto furniture decorated with painted landscapes. This was then all given several layers of varnish to create a uniform surface. ays, coasters, plant pots, etc. |
Bantam Work |
Incised work exported via Bantam, a Dutch trading station in Malaya (Malaysia). Sometimes European imitations of Coromandel lacquer is described as Bantam work. |
Bronze Powders |
Sometimes used as a cheaper alternative to gold powders and used on less important areas of painted or Japanned furniture. Also used to revive oil gilding or water gilding, but tends to look like paint and tarnishes quickly. |
Cinnabar |
Red carved lacquer, made from up to 300 layers and often carved to reveal different coloured lacquers below.. |
Coromandel |
Lacquer shipped to Europe from China via the Coromandel coast of India. The design is carved out of dark lacquer and the recesses filled in with coloured pigments. Coromandel dates from early 17th Century, generally used for screens, cabinets etc. |
Composition Mould |
A mixture of whiting, resin, oil and glue used warm to mould into shaped motifs; then gilded and used to embellish frames, furniture etc. Popular from mid 18th Century as a cheaper alternative to carving. |
Dry Stripping |
Removal of later paint, gilded or gessoed surface to reveal the original layer, done by hand using special tools. The result is a more pleasing dry look without affecting the surface by use of chemical stripping. |
Dutch Gold |
This is ‘imitation gold leaf’ composed of brass, copper and zinc. |
French Polish |
A spirit varnish or shellac. For European 18C furniture, oil-based resins or spirit varnishes make up the japanned layers and most pieces are finished with a spirit varnish, cut back to produce a flat lacquer like finish. All spirit varnishes tend to yellow and produce a fine craquelure after a period of time which can still result in a very pleasing patina. There were however resin mixed varnishes used from the 18thc, for example Stalker & Parkers best white varnish, which did not yellow and resembled a closer finish to that of oriental lacquer. |
Gesso |
Whiting, rabbit skin glue and water mixed to produce a creamy liquid which is generally brushed onto carved wood, then cut back in preparation for water gilding |
Gold Leaf |
Gold hammered to 0.1 micron thick. It is available in many colours achieved by adding other metals: for example white gold, moon gold and lemon gold. Gold leaf supplies at www.habberleymeadows.co.uk, one of only two goldbeaters remaining in the UK. |
Japanning |
This term is applied to imitation Oriental lacquer.
Because lacquer trees did not grow in Europe, as with Chinese porcelain, there was an ever increasing demand for the fashionable but expensive imports. By the middle of the 17th Century, English and European furniture makers began creating their own imitations of Oriental lacquer. Gessoed wood was coated in varnish made from complicated recipes using a mixture of resins, spirits, gums and oils. |
Lacquer |
The art of lacquering originated in China as early as 1,200 BC and has been practised since antiquity in the East. The sap of the sumac (lacquer) tree "rhus vernicifera" indigenous to China is collected by tapping the tree. The raw lacquer is then purified and applied in successive coats on to a wood, metal or other substrate. A high humidity (80%) is needed for each layer of lacquer to dry. Lacquer can be carved, inlaid with metals, shell or hardstones or decorated with gold, silver etc. It is generally resistant to heat, water and even solvents being chemically similar to plastic.
See Urushi |
Modern Lacquer |
Modern commercial lacquers are made from pigments and a plasticized liquid usually containing cellulose nitrate. . They are durable, water resistant, glossy and sprayed onto every kind of object from furniture to cars. Enamel based paints are also sometimes described as lacquer. |
Nashiji |
A Japanese technique used to describe metal flakes sprinkled onto wet lacquer. |
Oil Gilding |
The process of laying gold leaf onto a sticky oil size. It is more durable, simpler and hence cheaper than water gilding, but it cannot be burnished which means that it is not suitable for every surface. |
Painted Furniture |
Almost every country around the world has its own style of painted furniture with varying techniques, pigments and varnishes. Painted furniture was sometimes commissioned for palaces and created by designers like Robert Adam to echo a decorative scheme for a room or often produced by everyday craftsmen in a rustic style. Because some 18th Century craftsmen used softer, less expensive wood for furniture that was to be painted, much has not survived - woodworm is a common problem and in severe cases, areas of the painted surface can be suspended where the timber has deteriorated. For woodworm eradication see Thermo Lignum www.thermolignum.co.uk (also featured in our 'Abotu Us' section). |
Papier Mâché |
French for “chewed paper” and was invented by the Chinese c.200AD. It is a mixture based on paper and glue, moulded, then baked and decorated. It was very popular during the second half of the 19th Century and commonly used for trays, boxes, small tables etc. and sometimes inlaid with mother-of-pearl. |
Patina |
Surface appearance of age showing colour, texture, fading or darkening. |
Resin Lacquer |
This was used as a varnish in the Near and Middle East, Persia and India. It is made from the resinous secretion deposited on trees by an insect, usually the Coccus Lacca insect. This was collected and purified to produce seed lac and various forms of shellac. It was subsequently used by Europeans trying to copy Oriental lacquer. (See Oriental Lacquer/Japanning below). |
Scientific Analysis |
Examination of paints and pigments under magnification; IR Spectroscopy for timber dating, X-ray and UV. |
Silver Gilding |
Silver leaf looks fabulous and is inherently cheaper than gold leaf but it tarnishes with age and must be sealed. Substitutes with little or no tarnish are palladium or aluminium leaf |
Tôle |
Painted tinware became popular during the 18th century and satisfied demand for smaller less expensive japanned objects. A heat resistant varnish was painted onto a metal base, fired and decorated. Typical examples are tea caddies, trays, coasters, plant pots, etc. |
Urushi |
Japanese name for Oriental lacquer. Often used to describe all "true" lacquer. Lacquer arrived in Japan from China via Korea when craftsmen emigrated in the 6th Century. However by the 16th Century the Japanese had surpassed the Chinese and Korean lacquer in quality. Oriental lacquer is chemically similar to plastic and hence very tough. It is built up in many thin layers.
See also : Lacquer |
Vernis Martin |
In the early 18th Century the Martin brothers from France produced some of Europe's finest Japanned goods. The word varnish - or vernis in French - comes from the Latin name of the lacquer tree "rhus vernicifera". |
Verre églomisé |
Gilding on glass |
Water Gilding |
The process of laying gold leaf onto a surface prepared with water-based gesso and clay colours. This looks stunning when burnished with an agate or dog’s tooth but the gesso is vulnerable to damp; water gilding cannot therefore be used for the exterior. |
Whiting |
Calcium carbonate or calcium sulphate (a refined plaster) used with rabbit skin glue and water for making gesso. |
