Page 310 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

advances in joinery techniques, gave rise to the manufacture of highly refined objects (cat. 108).
The invention of the lathe made it possible to create thin-walled, round containers, and a tech-
nique, developed in the fourth century BCE, of curving thinly sliced pieces of wood by exposing
them to fire, hot water, or steam permitted the manufacture of delicate cylindrical shapes. In the
fifth or fourth century BCE, lacquer artisans devised a process — the so-called dry-lacquer tech-
nique— for the manufacture of luxury objects: pieces of fabric, such as hemp, were joined over
a clay model, and the cloth was coated with layers of lacquer, sometimes mixed with ash powder;
after each coating, once the lacquer had dried, the surface was finely sanded, and the process
repeated as many times as necessary to obtain a perfectly smooth finish. Finally, the use of new
pigments extended the range of lacquer decoration. These were ground to a very fine powder,
mixed with oil (rather than directly into the raw lacquer, which makes many colors turn black),
and applied to the surface of the lacquerware. At least ten colors, including shades of orange,
turquoise, and green (the latter two being particularly difficult to manufacture) were used to
4
decorate a circular toilet box discovered in Tomb 2 at Baoshan. These innovations took place
within a short period — a century or so — probably in response to patrons' demands. 5
Lacquerware developed its own aesthetic, and it had a profound influence on all the

other applied arts from the same period, including bronzework (cat. 115). As the kingdoms and
principalities strengthened their relations with one another through commercial exchange
and military alliances during the fourth and third centuries BCE, cultural interactions and
cross-influences developed to a far greater extent than previously — and particularly so in the
arts and crafts. Comparisons of lacquerwork from Chu tombs in Hubei (before 278 BCE) and
Hunan (fourth to third century BCE) with pieces from the Qin sites of Qingchuan in Sichuan
(late fourth to early third century BCE) and Shuihudi (Yunmeng) in Hubei (c. mid-third to mid-
6
second century BCE) illustrate the geographic development of lacquer craftsmanship. New
production processes — in particular, the use of curved wood in bronze fittings and dry-lacquer
techniques — seem to have been much more highly developed and widely used among the Qin
than in Chu culture, where their application was limited to luxury items. AT

1 Regarding the processing of lacquer and the manufacture 4 Hubei 1991,1:144 - H^; 2: color pi. 7-8.
of lacquerware, see Garner 1979. 5 Thote 1990.
2 Hou 1995; Hubei 1994; Thote 1990. 6 See, respectively, Hubei 1994, Shang 1957, Beijing 1954,
3 Hubei 1989, 45 - 55,151 -175, 252 - 390. Sichuan 1982, i - 21; Yunmeng 1981.

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