A hint of Orient in an Americana collection: Investigations into Chinese export furniture at Winterthur Museum

Abstract

This paper discusses an ongoing treatment and research project focused on a group of black lacquer furniture created in China during the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries, now in the Winterthur Museum collection in Delaware, USA. Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) allowed for a two-year collaborative project encompassing treatment and analytical study of a selection of six objects, of which three are illustrated here. Data from pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed a hitherto undetected separate urushiol lacquer-layer applied on top of a laccol layer on a center table and a six-panel screen.

The materials chemistry of Chinese guqin zithers— Decoding the mysteries of an intangible cultural heritage

“…The laccol lacquer of T. succedaneum has also been identified in the export furniture of Qing Dynasty (1644-192), thought to be a cheaper alternative for urushiol lacquer. 73 Although laccol sap is usually associated with Vietnamese lacquerware, its historic use in Chinese guqin cannot be simply ruled out.…”