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Vase
Unknown - Enlarge image
Vase
- Place of origin:
Fuzhou, China (made)
- Date:
1913-1914 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Lacquer on silk, with painted decoration
- Credit Line:
Gift of Mr Paul King
- Museum number:
W.142-1928
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This vase was made shortly after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, when China became a republic. The technique used, however, is more than a thousand years old. It is sometimes called 'bodiless lacquer', because the silk core of the vase weighs almost nothing.
The sap of the lacquer tree was mixed with wheat flour and applied to the silk core. The surface of the vase was then polished and painted with layers of coloured lacquer. Fuzhou was one of the centres that specialised in silk lacquer, and a British diplomat bought this vase in the city between 1913 and 1914.
Image in copyright
