Lacquerwork

lacquerwork, certain metallic and wood objects to which coloured and frequently opaque varnishes called lacquer are applied. The word lacquer is derived from lac, a sticky resinous substance that is the basis of some lacquers. But the lacquer of China, Japan, and Korea, which is made from the sap of the tree Rhus vernicifera, should not be confused with other types of lacquer to which the term is generally applied—for instance, the lac of Myanmar (Burma), which is produced by the scale insect Laccifer lacca, and the various solutions of gums or resin in turpentine of which European imitations of Eastern lacquer have been and continue to be concocted.