Unique 300-year-old lacquer craft village in Thuong Tin (Hanoi)

The predecessor of Ha Thai lacquer village (Thuong Tin, Hanoi) is a craft village specializing in gilding and lacquering royal utensils, with a tradition of nearly 300 years. At present, the unique features of Ha Thai lacquer help the village's products to be favored by domestic and foreign markets.

Artisans of Ha Thai village said that the village's lacquer products often use traditional color materials such as then paint and cockroach paint.

To create a complete lacquer product, the craftsman must persevere with the manual method, even spending months, going through many elaborate and meticulous stages. In particular, this profession requires knowledge of painting to be able to produce high-quality works.

Materials used in the lacquer making process in Ha Thai: gold leaf, mother-of-pearl shell, silver leaf, eggshell.

The raw materials are carefully mixed to coat the lacquer product.

Paint materials are mixed by artisans.

A long-time artisan said that lacquer technology has a common principle, but the finished product will be different due to the experience and technique of the maker.

To make lacquer products, first the craftsman must wrap the wood with putty paper. They use alluvial soil to seal the cracks of the wood panel, and each layer of paint is lined with a layer of paper or gauze. Then, they must chisel the gills to install and attach paint to the horizontal wooden strips at the back of the wood panel (wooden board) to prevent longitudinal cracks on the fabric. After the wood is completely dry, they will paint the front and back of the panel. This step is to protect the wood panel so that it cannot absorb water, is not infested with termites, and the wood does not shrink due to environmental influences...

Mixing paint also requires many years of experience. Paint mixed in the wrong proportion will be difficult to dry and have the wrong color. Normally, workers will use two types of lacquer and cashew lacquer. Currently, cashew lacquer is chosen by many people because it is cheap, has good properties, and does not corrode the skin, while lacquer is expensive, has corrode properties, and people who are not used to it will easily get allergies. The price of 1kg of lacquer on the market is 400,000 - 500,000 VND/kg, while cashew lacquer is only 50,000 VND.

After having a complete piece of wood or carved models, vases..., the lacquer artist creates color and waits for the color to dry.

To increase productivity, many factories use paint sprayers to create colors instead of doing it manually.

After that, they attach and glue materials for the work such as eggshells, mother-of-pearl pieces, gold, silver, and then cover the surface with a layer of paint. In particular, with the technique of painting statues for furniture such as altars, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, etc., the craftsman must work in a closed room and surround it with curtains to prevent the wind from blowing away the gold and silver materials, and to prevent dust from sticking to the wet paint.

Next comes the grinding and polishing stage. After grinding, the gloss is immersed in the color core, creating the depth of the painting.

Workers work enthusiastically to create the most unique lacquer products.

Sharing with reporters, artist Tran Cong Dung, who has been involved in the lacquer craft for nearly 30 years, said that the lacquer craft requires experience. To learn and complete all the stages of lacquer painting will take a lot of time, so the households working in the craft in Ha Thai often divide the work into stages. For lacquer paintings, the most difficult part is the idea and sketching stage. Each family will do it in a different style, so the products of each family have different beauty.

Each small lacquer product here costs from 300,000 to 1,000,000 VND. Sophisticated products, large-sized lacquer paintings cost from several million to tens of millions of VND. In particular, large products that are specially designed and meticulously crafted can be sold for several hundred million to several billion VND.

Currently, the lacquer craft brings in good income. A contract lacquer worker earns 2,000,000 - 2,500,000 VND per day. A gold and silver plater can plate more than 3,000 pieces per day, with a salary of 2,000 - 2,200 VND per piece.

Vietnam - China - Photo: Minh Duc

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/doc-dao-lang-nghe-son-mai-300-nam-tuoi-o-thuong-tin-ha-noi-post305234.html