| Lacquerware |
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Most of the mass market lacquerware handicraft you see in this region is actually produced with a synthetic material as the natural lacquer is not largely available. The one applied on our fine products – the Buddha Images, Betel Vases, Mantra Boxes - comes from the Cambodian province of Kompong Thom. The Melonorrhea Usitata is a wild resin which was common in the past in South East Asia but has quasi-disappeared in many countries. The resin is obtained like in Heveaculture in cutting into the bark and putting a small cupel to collect the sap. The harvesting happens during the rainy seaon. The sap becomes oxidized very quickly giving its dark color. It has the qualities of the polymer but is a natural resin which could be applied on various objects to waterproof, improve their durability or flexibility. If we mix it with a certain kind of powder, it becomes a paste to mold or sculpt. Red lacquer is obtained in mixing with the Chinese Red Cinnabar; Yellow lacquer is obtained with the Chinese Yellow Orpiment. The artisan who has worked on these items is a woman who has been particularly attentive to reveal the patterns of each piece in using uniquely two palettes of colors : red lacquer which is obtained in mixing with the Chinese Red Cinnabar; and Yellow lacquer is obtained with the Chinese Yellow Orpiment. |
