eBay

VINTAGE CHINESE

CINNABAR LACQUER

10” TRAY or DISH

An absolutely beautiful large Chinese

25.5cm (10 inch) Lacquer ware dish,

plate or tray.

These pieces are notoriously difficult

to date as they have been made the

same way for thousands of years.

In my research I found similar items

being sold as ‘antique’ but this is

often not the case.

Generally, pieces permanently marked

China, or Made in China, date from

ca. 1890s-1930s, generally anything

after this has no permanent mark.

(and ones with Chinese characters are

to impress Western tourists and are on

more reproductions than genuine pieces).

I’ve owned this dish for maybe 8 to 10 years,

something like that, don’t remember

exactly, and of course it had some

age when we got it (antique dealers).

Personally I think this dish is c.1990

To many buyers apparently, the age of

is not as important as the quality.

Some pieces carved today are very high

quality and some pieces from the

19th and early 20th century made

for the tourist trade are very poor quality.

‘Quality’ is usually defined by the skill of

the artist, the amount of detailed

carving, number of layers of lacquer

and condition.

This fabulous display piece is genuine lacquer

that has been carved and coloured this intense

red-orange colour we know as Cinnabar.

Definitely a metal rim and foot base

(probably brass but could be bronze).

Underneath has a glossy smooth

black lacquer finish.

I’ve taken lots of close-up photos to

show the layers and tool marks etc

that show its actually lacquer and

not a plastic knockoff.

Also last photo shows the small

group of Cinnabar we are currently

listing including a carved wooden

stand which will also be listed

separately.

I think you can see from the quality

of this plate or dish just how nice a

piece of ‘Cinnabar’ it really is.

I’ve always admired the workmanship,

quality and decorative appeal of lacquer

wares but I’m not an expert in this field

so I did a lot of research before listing

these pieces so I got all my facts straight

(which I like to do) and have added my

findings below if anyone is interested in

learning more about it.

CONDITION

In very good to excellent vintage condition.

No damage, colour is bright and

even – bronze/brass rim and

foot have tarnished with time

and have a lovely soft patina.

DIMENSIONS

It measures approximately:

25.5cm (10") wide

3.7cm (1 ½ ") high

Weight is: 575 grams

LACQUERWARES & CINNABAR

Lacquer is the substance from which these

red-orange objects we generically refer

to as ‘Cinnabar’ are made from but

cinnabar is a colouring agent, in its

original form, cinnabar is crystallized

red mercuric sulphide (HgS) and has

been used as such for thousands of

years because of its intense red-orange

colour.

It is obtained naturally by grinding ore into

a fine powder then mixing the powder into

dyes, paints and other mediums such

as lacquer.

Organic lacquer is formed from a natural resin

or sap the most common source being from

the so-called lacquer or lac tree (Toxicodendron

vernicifluum), which grows in central and eastern

Asia but can also be manufactured by treating

a mixture of liquid mercury and sulphur with

potassium hydroxide.

The tree sap is collected and then coloured

(black, green, purple and ‘cinnabar’)

before being applied in very thin layers to

the item being lacquered and sometimes

in layers of more than one colour.

The basic structure of the object being

produced is made of either wood, metal,

porcelain, paper, fabric or a wire frame

which is then smoothed, polished and

often treated with special materials to

help the lacquer adhere.

The use of lacquer was developed in

China about 3000-2500 BC.

Over the centuries the techniques of working

with lacquer spread to other Asian countries

including Japan and Korea.

Carved lacquer from classical periods

in Japan and China, 500-1700 AD, can have

as many as 200-300 separate layers.

Obviously this is a very time consuming

process as each thin layer of resin must

then harden before applying the next .

Workshop records from those early periods

speak of large pieces that took years to

prepare and up to several years to carve.

New pieces of genuine carved cinnabar

lacquer have an estimated 50-100 layers.

The desired thickness for carving is

approximately 1/8 to ¼ of an inch thick.

Of course lacquer items are not always

carved but can be smooth and unadorned.

Over the years, Western collectors gradually

began referring to any reddish-orange

coloured lacquer item as "cinnabar."

Today you hear or read of items described

as "cinnabar snuff bottles" or "cinnabar vases"

etc but technically, those pieces are carved

cinnabar-coloured lacquer snuff bottles/

vases/etc.

Reddish-orange carved lacquer, or cinnabar,

has been widely exported to the West for

over three hundred years China and is

still a popular souvenir for tourists visiting

Asia as well as being imported by gift

wholesalers worldwide.

Inexpensive cinnabar lookalikes in plastic have

also been widely offered in catalogues by

the decorating trade and reproduction

wholesalers.

The problem for collectors is that all these

pieces–antique examples, currently produced

genuine lacquer, and many imitations made over

many years–are all in today's market.

Buyers need to know the proper way to determine

whether a piece they examine is genuine

carved lacquer or a moulded copy.

I have included a ‘how to tell real from plastic’

Tutorial below (which I’ve borrowed from

another Website, thanking them) so if you

are interested keep reading.

SEPARATING CARVED LACQUER FROM IMITATIONS

Genuine carved lacquer virtually always shows some sign of the multiple layers from which it was created. The best place to look is at gradually tapering cuts. If you look at these cuts with a 10X loupe you will generally see a grain-like pattern of concentric rings. Rings or grain are not generally visible on right angle cuts and may not appear at all on very finely carved pieces made before ca. 1900. Regardless of age, though, virtually all carved pieces show at least some evidence of tool marks produced by carving.

The most obvious clues to moulding or casting are tell-tale production marks associated with plastic and other synthetic materials. Typical signs would include mould seams, pits from broken air bubbles and swirls within the material. Bases of many moulded pieces often have what appear to be saw marks never found on genuine lacquer. Moulded pieces also tend to lack the detail found in carved pieces but this may not be obvious unless you have experience.

Before modern plastics, the most common way to reproduce carved lacquer was to first make moulds of genuine pieces. These moulds were then used to make plaster copies. The copies were then painted with thick reddish-orange paint and sold as carved cinnabar. Slightly better reproductions were made by coating the plaster with a single layer of lacquer as a top coating. Another pre-1940 imitation was a type of red putty that was pressed in moulds. This material was heat sensitive and often softens and blurs details.

A test of last resort is to drag a cotton swab moistened with fingernail polish remover across a suspected piece. Genuine lacquer will discolour the swab; plastic is not affected. Use this test with extreme CAUTION–polish remover is highly flammable. It can also dull the original finish on genuine lacquer. Test hidden areas only and immediately clean the tested area with mild soap and rinse thoroughly.

Never use heated pins to test for lacquer. Many plastics as well as some lacquers emit toxic gasses or ignite when heated. The best test is to use your loupe and look for tool marks which indicate hand carving.

Is it old?

To many buyers, the age of cinnabar carved lacquer is not as important as the quality of workmanship. This art form has remained essentially unchanged for centuries and some pieces carved today are very high quality. Then again, many pieces from the 19th and early 20th century made for the tourist trade are very poor quality. Quality is usually defined by the amount and quality of detailed carving, number of layers of lacquer and condition.

Generally, pieces permanently marked China, or Made in China, date from ca. 1890s-1930s. Cinnabar being carved today usually has no permanent mark. Museum quality pieces are just that–in a museum and not at your local flea market or on eBay. And don't get excited over Chinese characters on a piece. Most of those marks were applied to impress Western tourists and are on more reproductions than genuine pieces.

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kollectik1

(Kollectik Pty. Ltd.)

has been trading successfully on eBay

for a very long time now and hopefully will

be for a long time to come

(please see our feedback)

Between 2007 and 2018 we were also

The Manly Antique Centre

which has now sadly closed as our old building was

sold to Developers and is now a block of units.......

of course.

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