Definition

1. Noun:

   • Lacquer: A traditional Vietnamese artistic medium and technique. It refers to both the material itself—a refined, glossy resin derived from the lacquer tree (cây sơn)—and the finished artwork created through a meticulous, multi-layered process of applying, drying, and polishing this resin, often inlaid with materials like eggshell, mother-of-pearl, gold, or silver.

2. Noun (colloquial):

   • Lacquer painting: A painting created using the sơn mài technique; a lacquer artwork. This is a shortened form of "tranh sơn mài."

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Nghệ thuật sơn mài Việt Nam rất nổi tiếng. (Vietnamese lacquer art is very famous.)
  • Người thợ thủ công đang đánh bóng lớp sơn mài cuối cùng. (The artisan is polishing the final layer of lacquer.)
  • Phòng trưng bày này chỉ triển lãm các tác phẩm sơn mài. (This gallery only exhibits lacquer paintings.)

Advanced Usage

• The process is complex. An object receives a primer, then at least ten layers of lacquer. Each layer must dry for about a week before being sanded smooth with materials like pumice stone, then the next layer is applied. The final layer is polished with fine charcoal powder.
• Decoration involves techniques like painting, creating low relief, or inlaying materials (mother-of-pearl, eggshell, precious metals) between the layers.

Variants and Related Words

• Tranh sơn mài (n): Lacquer painting; the full term for a lacquer artwork.
  • Bức tranh sơn mài này mô tả cảnh làng quê. (This lacquer painting depicts a rural village scene.)
• Nghệ thuật sơn mài (n): Lacquer art.
  • Cô ấy theo học nghệ thuật sơn mài. (She is studying lacquer art.)

Synonyms

• Lacquer: The general term for the material and technique.
• Lacquerware: Objects decorated with lacquer (broader term, can include furniture, boxes).

Related Terms

• Cẩn ốc (n): Mother-of-pearl inlay, a common decorative technique in .
  • Chiếc hộp được cẩn ốc rất tinh xảo. (The box has very intricate mother-of-pearl inlay.)
• Mài (v): To sand, to polish; a crucial action in the process.
  • Sau mỗi lớp sơn, người thợ phải mài cho thật phẳng. (After each lacquer layer, the artisan must sand it until very smooth.)

noun

1. lacquer