Plate with flying birds amid flowers

Very elaborate lacquer objects such as this plate and the example in red lacquer discussed above had little practical use. They should be seen primarily as either presentation pieces or objects that served some role in court rituals or ceremonies. In order to create a piece of carved lacquer of this level of complexity, the inner wood core was usually strengthened with lacquer-impregnated cloth. Then several layers of lacquer mixed with very fine clay were applied to form a uniform surface, followed by multiple layers of lacquer. Each layer had to cure fully and then be lightly buffed before the next layer could be applied. In most cases a telltale line in a contrasting color of lacquer was applied in the first several layers. This served as a depth guide for the carver. In this example, alternate layers of black and red served this purpose. The base coat, which appears at the bottom of the most deeply carved areas, is red. An extravagant amount of time and energy was involved before the blank was even ready for carving.