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Lacquer: Technology and Conservation: A Comprehensive Guide to the

Technology and Conservation of Asian and European Lacquer

Article  in  Journal of the American Institute for Conservation · October 2002

DOI: 10.2307/3180037

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The citation listed on Research Gate is a review of my book Lacquer: Technology and Conservation. It
is not a copy of the book. Unfortunately the book is out of print and there was no digital copy made at
the time.

Review is available online at, http://cool.conservation-us.org/jaic/articles/jaic40-02-

006_indx.html

MARIANNE WEBB, LACQUER: TECHNOLOGY AND CONSERVATION: A COMPREHENSIVE

GUIDE TO THE TECHNOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF ASIAN AND EUROPEAN
LACQUER. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000. 182 pages, hardcover, $72. ISBN 0-7506-4412-5.

At long last a book has been written that looks at the range of materials, technologies, and treatments
available for both Asian lacquer and Western japanned objects. Marianne Webb has masterfully tackled the
complicated and controversial subject of the preservation of lacquer. The book is divided into two broad
sections, Asian lacquer and European japanning. She introduces the subject with a clear explanation of the
definitions of lacquer and why the term is so often confused and misunderstood. As the author points out,
the term “lacquer” is currently used to describe any glossy coating made from natural or synthetic resins.
Lacquer is commonly thought to be the same material on both Asian and European (Western) objects.
While all traditional lacquer is made from plant resins or insect residues, the species vary widely, causing
the fabrication, deterioration, and treatment to be vastly different. The author delves into details of the
differences between Eastern and Western treatment philosophies, concentrating on lacquer deterioration
and conservation rather than its history and decorative techniques.

The author begins by defining Asian lacquer, its origins, sources, chemical constituents, toxicity, and
identification. Next she discusses the various substrates, grounds, finishes, and decorative techniques. To
complete this section, she describes the deterioration and conservation methods used for Asian
lacquer. Urushi, the Japanese name for Asian lacquer, is produced from the sap of various species of
the Rhus (now Toxicodendron radicans) and Melanorrhoea trees and is used throughout Asia. Most of the
resins are toxic, causing rashes on humans, and when they harden they become insoluble, producing a
tough, impervious film. They remain insoluble unless they are badly deteriorated by extreme light
exposure. This aspect of urushi has led to different approaches to conservation treatments between Asian
and Western conservators.

The second half of the book covers European lacquer with the same details of definition, fabrication
techniques, deterioration problems, conservation issues, and methods being discussed. European lacquer is
also called japanning because it was initially developed to imitate Japanese lacquer in the early 18th
century. Since none of the Asian lacquer-producing trees grew in Europe, other resins were employed. The
author illustrates and describes these resins which include shellac, copal, gum elemi, mastic, and sandarac.
Most of these resins remain soluble and are not as durable as urushi. While the appearance of these resins is
similar to urushi, the materials and techniques are very different.

The descriptions of problems that all these organic coatings develop are thorough and well illustrated with
useful photographic details of deterioration such as fingerprints, water damage, flaking, and light damage.
The author also provides good cautionary notes on treatments where problems may develop. The book ends
with a short glossary, a small bibliography, and an Asian time line.

A fundamental disagreement exists among Eastern and Western conservators about how to treat Asian
lacquered objects. The major difference is between the traditional, irreversible technique of repair
using urushi and the Western method of using soluble synthetic or natural resins. The author provides a
balanced view of these disagreements. In the past neither side compromised, but now both have begun to
influence one another. Sharing of information has led some Western conservators to use urushi on Asian
objects and some Asian conservators to seek reversibility in treatments. It is important to continue weighing
these decisions since no consolidation is really completely reversible. The author discusses the pros and
cons of using urushi or synthetic resins as consolidants, leaving the choice to the reader.
 This book is a welcome addition to the conservation library, but it falls short in a few areas. Missing from
this volume are microscopic cross sections of urushi objects, which would aid our understanding of the
preservation problems and be useful for comparison with the cross sections that are provided for the
japanned objects. Some important lacquer conservation problems are not addressed. These include the
stabilization of waterlogged Asian lacquer, the difficulties of flattening thick lacquer layers, and the
treatment of lacquer on corroded metal, a particularly intractable problem with Asian armor.

The author provides good details on specific solutions. It would have been more instructive to include a
summary of methods that did not work and should be avoided. She discusses particular conservation
materials without enough emphasis on the reasons behind her choices and why they work. Guidelines on
general adhesive and consolidant selection and use would have been more helpful than speaking of specific
resins. She covers the various resins used for japanning in excellent detail, but I would like to have seen
more information on the various Asian resins. She concentrates on the materials and techniques of Japanese
lacquer but rarely discusses lacquers produced in China, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, or the Ryukyu Islands.
Likewise the glossary concentrates on Japanese vocabulary with only a few Burmese, Korean, and
Vietnamese terms.

For an important reference book, a comprehensive bibliography at the back would be more useful than the
references at the end of each chapter, particularly since many of the chapter references cover broader
subjects. The references include only the Western literature, with few Asian references provided. The
inclusion of references to resin chemistry would be useful for the reader who wants to pursue the subject
further. A final section providing suggestions for future investigation and the direction in which the author
sees the lacquer specialty proceeding would have strengthened the book.

There are few books on the subject of the technology and conservation of lacquer. The only volumes on
conservation issues are found in a few conference symposia and in individual papers scattered among
obscure journals. This book is a guide to the technology and conservation of Asian and Western lacquer for
the professional conservator and student. It will assist both the beginner and the experienced conservator in
making informed decisions on identification and treatment of lacquer and japanned objects. This is an
enormous amount of material to cover in one volume, but the author brings clear definition to the confusing
media. She assesses current conservation practices and controversial issues as to whether Asian lacquer
should be restored in the traditional Asian manner using nonreversible materials, or with Western methods
that are theoretically reversible. Finally, in this book and in recent workshops we are beginning to see some
compromises, some crossover between methods. These are all leading to a better understanding of materials
and methods and, it is hoped, to better preservation of a difficult material.

Marianne Webb has been the decorative arts conservator at the Royal Ontario Museum for over 18 years.
She has taught lacquer conservation courses at the Campbell Center and at occasional workshops. Until last
year she was the coordinator of the ICOM Committee for the Conservation Working Group on Lacquer.

• Donna Strahan
• Head of Conservation
• Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
• Golden Gate Park
• San Francisco, Calif. 94118

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