Masterpieces of Chinese Lacquer from the Mike Healy Collection
中国漆器：黑利藏品选萃

Invented during the Neolithic period (ca. 6500–1700 BCE), lacquer was an important art form in ancient China. The Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) experienced an exciting surge in the production of lacquer objects and vessels for domestic, imperial, and burial purposes and continued to demonstrate the highest quality of production through the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Often made of wood or layered fabrics, the core of lacquerware is built in the desired shape and then coated with layers of lacquer. These thin layers of lacquer could effectively prevent the wood core from rotting in heat and dampness. Lacquer could be decorated with various paint colors, carved, or inlaid with precious stones, shell, gold, or silver. This exhibition presented lacquer, one of the great decorative art traditions of China, in a chronological format and focused on the varied types of lacquer produced from the second to the seventeenth centuries.