Monyar Lacquer Betel Box
Product Description
In Burma the lacquer tree (Gluta usitata) is not cultivated, and its sap is collected in the forest. The tree is tapped by making cuts in the bark and collecting the straw-coloured sap in tubes and after collection, it turns black.
Lacquer vessels are not solid lacquer, but have a wood, bamboo or horsehair base coated with layers of thayo putty and liquid lacquer to create their characteristic smooth surface. The Burmese word yun means both 'lacquer' and a decorative engraving technique. Although gilding and relief decoration are also used, yun is the most common technique used on lacquerware.
You can see that many of the lacquer ware has been inscribed. Inscriptions on lacquer items are seldom formal and often engagingly lively. All have something to tell us about real people living in a different culture. Most frequent are the names of maker, owner or donor. A maker keen to sell his wares always gives his address, often asserts their qualities and cites if he can, in support of his claims, the awards he has won for his craftsmanship. Frequently he finds space for good wishes for the health and prosperity of the buyer and users. A few buyers commission important articles and have their names conspicuously inscribed by the maker, but most purchasers take the piece home and add their name to it, usually daubed on the underside. Donors to monasteries, almost always couples, take care to record their names and their deed of merit in the object donated.
Burmese lacquerware has been used since the Bagan period stretching back almost a millennium. The technique probably originated in China, and there has been exchanges of methods and designs between China, Burma and Thailand (especially Lanna/Chiang Mai). Lacquer has not been used in Burma to produce paintings, such as is being done in Vietnam, but it has been used to create everyday objects, in particular betel boxes, though also more refined objects for use by monks and in the temples, and even by Royalty. It was noted by colonial Europeans that the best pieces of lacquerware seem to originate from the Shan State, and some of them were presented as gifts to visiting envoys and even to the Emperor of China. The very best lacquerware pieces may be considered along with the pinnacle of Southeast Asian art such as Indonesian textiles or Khmer sculptures. Burmese or Myanmar lacquerware is still under-researched. It has become more difficult to find best quality pieces in Burma. Since the publication of two books on the subject, publicity in the West has created an interest in and demand for these unique, beautifully crafted works.
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References:
Burma and the Art of Lacquer by Ralph Isaacs and Richard Blurton
Burmese Lacquer Ware by Sylvia Fraser-Lu
Some descriptions by Thavibu Gallery
Provenance: Probably Upper Burma/Shan State
Period: Late 19th to early 20th Century
Technique: Lacquered bamboo
Height: 5 1/4"
Lacquer vessels are not solid lacquer, but have a wood, bamboo or horsehair base coated with layers of thayo putty and liquid lacquer to create their characteristic smooth surface. The Burmese word yun means both 'lacquer' and a decorative engraving technique. Although gilding and relief decoration are also used, yun is the most common technique used on lacquerware.
You can see that many of the lacquer ware has been inscribed. Inscriptions on lacquer items are seldom formal and often engagingly lively. All have something to tell us about real people living in a different culture. Most frequent are the names of maker, owner or donor. A maker keen to sell his wares always gives his address, often asserts their qualities and cites if he can, in support of his claims, the awards he has won for his craftsmanship. Frequently he finds space for good wishes for the health and prosperity of the buyer and users. A few buyers commission important articles and have their names conspicuously inscribed by the maker, but most purchasers take the piece home and add their name to it, usually daubed on the underside. Donors to monasteries, almost always couples, take care to record their names and their deed of merit in the object donated.
Burmese lacquerware has been used since the Bagan period stretching back almost a millennium. The technique probably originated in China, and there has been exchanges of methods and designs between China, Burma and Thailand (especially Lanna/Chiang Mai). Lacquer has not been used in Burma to produce paintings, such as is being done in Vietnam, but it has been used to create everyday objects, in particular betel boxes, though also more refined objects for use by monks and in the temples, and even by Royalty. It was noted by colonial Europeans that the best pieces of lacquerware seem to originate from the Shan State, and some of them were presented as gifts to visiting envoys and even to the Emperor of China. The very best lacquerware pieces may be considered along with the pinnacle of Southeast Asian art such as Indonesian textiles or Khmer sculptures. Burmese or Myanmar lacquerware is still under-researched. It has become more difficult to find best quality pieces in Burma. Since the publication of two books on the subject, publicity in the West has created an interest in and demand for these unique, beautifully crafted works.
Request Price or Information
References:
Burma and the Art of Lacquer by Ralph Isaacs and Richard Blurton
Burmese Lacquer Ware by Sylvia Fraser-Lu
Some descriptions by Thavibu Gallery
Provenance: Probably Upper Burma/Shan State
Period: Late 19th to early 20th Century
Technique: Lacquered bamboo
Height: 5 1/4"