Round box decorated with lychee

Lacquer (Chinese qi) is a special material of the Far East and is gained from the sap of the tree Rhus verniciflua. The grey varnish is coloured with different pigments (red, black, brown, green, etc). The most characteristic lacquer decoration is carved red lacquer technique. The body of the object is covered in even 80–100 layers of lacquer and each layer is left to dry. After the lacquer reaches the solidity of rubber, the surface is carved with pointed and sharp tools. The most common decorations are peonies, season’s flowers, landscapes, birds, and dragons. The classical era of carved red lacquer production is the fourteenth–eighteenth century.