The essence of lacquerware lies in its lacquer pigments. Lacquer, also known as raw lacquer or national lacquer, is a natural polymer coating with excellent properties such as corrosion resistance, moisture resistance, wear resistance, and high-temperature resistance. The process of making lacquer pigments mainly involves the following steps:
Selecting and Filtering the Lacquer:
Lacquer is sourced from lacquer trees, and craftsmen use specialized tools to collect the sap, which serves as the raw material for lacquer pigments.
The raw lacquer is then filtered to remove impurities and particles, ensuring the purity and fineness of the pigment. During the filtering process, fabrics of varying coarseness are often used for multiple filtrations.
Air-Drying and Sun-Drying:
The filtered raw lacquer needs to be air-dried or sun-dried to further remove moisture and volatile substances, making it more stable. This step is crucial for the subsequent mixing and application of the pigment.
Color Mixing and Grinding:
In the color mixing process of lacquer pigments, various mineral powders or pigments, such as Lithol red, stone yellow, lightfast yellow, titanium white, phthalocyanine blue, and gamboge, are added as needed to achieve the desired color.
After mixing the colors, the pigments are meticulously ground using specialized tools (like stones) to ensure thorough blending and to achieve the desired fineness and gloss.
Preparing the Colored Lacquer:
The pigments, after being mixed and ground, can be used alone as colored lacquer or mixed with clear lacquer or other colored lacquers to create a wider variety of colors and effects.
Clear lacquer, a common base for mixing, can be used alone or combined with other pigments to create various colored lacquers. It has a texture similar to red burnished lacquer but is yellowish-brown in color and semi-transparent, offering good coverage and transparency.
Resting and Quality Inspection:
The prepared colored lacquer needs to rest for some time to allow its internal components to fully blend and stabilize.
Afterward, the lacquer undergoes quality inspection to ensure its color, gloss, coverage, and other properties meet the required standards.
The process of making lacquer pigments not only reflects the exquisite craftsmanship of traditional arts but also showcases the artisans' pursuit of beauty and their reverence for nature. Through this complex series of steps, lacquer pigments exhibit rich, vibrant colors and a smooth, glossy texture, providing a solid material foundation for lacquerware production.
