How To Tell Authentic Lacquer from fake - Dream Art Gallery

Chinese lacquer is one of the oldest lacquers known to us. For over a thousand years Chinese lacquer has been used to fashion, cover or decorate boxes, screens, vases, figures, jewellery and many other objects. Thin layers of lacquer could be painted on or gilded, whilst if built up to greater thickness, patterns could be carved in the lacquer.

The oldest lacquer objects ever found come from Chinese graves of the 15th century BC. Chinese lacquer ware has undoubtedly been known to and prized by europeans since the first contacts between East Asian and European traders. But it began to be regularly imported only in the early 17th century, after which it quickly become so sought after that it was imitated in enormous quantities and in the most various forms.

It is not always easy to distinguish between original lacquers and European products of the 19th century, when the ingredients for preparing the lacquer were imported. Lacquers produced in Europe can be distinguished by their lesser resistence to time and wear.

Original Chinese lacquer remains smooth and perfect for centuries, whilst the surface of European black lacquers and their painted decorations show evident signs of frequent restoration.

The raw material is the sap of a tree called Rhus Vernicifera which is indigenous to China and grows extensively. Like rubber, it is tapped from incisions made in the bark. The light coloured sap grows dark on exposure to the air and is not smoked like rubber, but heated for a number of hours and strained until all impurities have been removed and the lacquer has become suitable for application in thin, perfect and uniform layers.

The lacquer is not self supporting but needs a base, which is generally wood. In antiques objects a coat of woven straw or hempen cloth was first fixed onto the wood and smeared with very fine clay in order to obtain an absolutely even surface in preparation for painting, this coating often makes it possible to detect authentic Chinese furniture and similar articles. European imitations have a gesso base.

Just to produce the lacquered surface and possibly a painted decoration on a basis of wood or other material, 10 to 20 coats were applied one after the other, with intervals of a number of hours in between to allow them to dry and harden in contact with the oxygen in the air. Thanks to this long hardening process Chinese lacquer is insoluble in pratically all known solvents and consequently extremely resistant to atmospheric agents and wear. After drying, each layer was carefully ground smooth. In order to obtain a sufficient thickness for carving, up to 300 layers of lacquer had to be applied.

By boring a small hole with a drill in a fake lacquer it is often possible to discover that under the thin red coating the actual body is a whitish grey substance. A similar hole in an authentic vase reveals that covering and body are made of the same material. A fake vase also has a waxy feel, whilst authentic lacquer is hard and dry to the touch.

The main characteristics indicative of a substitute material for Chinese lacquer are as follows:

• Plastic is inflammable and gives off pungent smell. Chinese lacquer burns to ash and is perfumed
• Generally speaking, plastic is deformed by heat and grows soft, whereas Chinese lacquer does not run.
• Plastic is dissolved by certain chemicals, lacquer is insoluble.
• Chinese lacquer needs a support which may be for example, woven bamboo or porcelain. Plastic is self supporting.

Please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any queries about Asian Art. Dream Art Gallery has 20 years of experience in studying and collecting Asian Art. Established in 1999 as online gallery Dream Art Gallery specialises in exclusive Chinese ceramics and works of art from the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties.

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