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Lacquerwares

Prior to getting married, Vietnamese couples hold an an hoi engagement ceremony, during which the groom's family presents the bride's family with round red lacquered boxes, filled with tea, betel nuts and traditional cakes. Just as the gifts are symbolic, so are the boxes, which, covered in shiny red lacquer, present good luck and happiness.

In Vietnam's Red River Delta, small lacquer items have been unearthed in graves dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. But it was during the middle of the 15th century A.D. that Vietnamese people began using lacquer for decorative purposes. It is said that a Vietnamese mandarin by the name of Tran Luc, who earned his degree in 1502, was sent to Beijing with a message for the Chinese king. En rout, he observed Chinese villagers producing art objects in lacquer. When he retired from court life, Tran Luc returned to his native village of Binh Vong in Ha Tay province. There, he taught his neighbors to apply lacquer.

Since the original techniques for producing lacquerwares were so time-consuming, lacquer was traditionally reserved for decorating pagodas, temples and palaces. Traditional lacquer products were typically red (the color of happiness) and gold (the color of royalty).

In northern Vietnam, villages that produce lacquerwares may be found in the provinces of Ha Tay, Nam Dinh, Nam Ha. In the south, villages in Song Be area and Dong Nai specialize in this painstaking craft.

Lacquer is made from the resin of the son tree, which grows in highland areas. These trees start to produce lacquer sap after three years, and are exhausted within seven or eight years. The resin is stored in jars for between two and four months. After boiling, the resin turns white and grows thick, like cream.

The traditional method calls for at least 11 coats of lacquer, with each layer to be left to dry for a week and ell sanded before the next coat is applied. Fruit, soil and eggshells were all used as colorants, while designs were sometimes inlaid using eggshells, mother-of-pearl, silver, or gold.

In Chuyen My village, which lies some 30km from Hanoi in Ha Tay province, most families supplement their income from rice farming by producing lacquered furniture inlaid with mother-of pearl. First, the wood is boiled to remove all sap, then dried in the sun and fashioned into furniture, trays, screens, and boxes. After tracing the designs on paper, the craftsman uses a tiny saw and life to cut the mother-of-pearl. Fresh-water mussels from Ha Tay, oysters and snail shells from Vietnam's central coast, and imported shells (which cost up toUS$140 for 100 grams) are all used. The craftsman uses a chisel to engrave lines on the shell, then incises hollows in the wood and inlays the nacre. A highly adhesive lacquer is applied and, once dry, carefully sanded and polished to create a smooth, shiny and highly durable finish.

In feudal times, only mandarins and nobles could afford carved wooden furniture covered with lacquer. Today, this ornate furniture - often inlaid with mother-of-pearl- is coveted by wealthy urbanites eager to give their newly built homes and air of traditional grandeur.

Getting there

Chuyen My village lies some 47km from central Hanoi in Ha Tay province. Take Highway No. 1 to Phu Xuyen town. Turn left, go 7km, then turn right and travel another 5km to the cathedrals of Thao Noi and Thao Ngoai. Chuyen My village is 1km fro here.