Web Newsletter Vol. Each and every one of the lacquerware pieces in the Man-U Imports collection is made a natural substance obtained from the lacquer tree in China, which leads the world in lacquer resources. While much of China is suitable for growing the lacquer tree, but most of the output comes from five provinces Shaanxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan.
Raw lacquer is the sap of the lacquer tree, which hardens in contact with air.
A lacquer tree does not become productive until 3-5 years after planting. The trees can only be tapped for lacquer in June and July and must only be tapped in the predawn hours because sun reduces the moisture in the air and stops the flow of the latex. Lacquerware s long history dates back to the remote ages in China. In 1955, in the Jiangsu Province, a number of lacquer-painted black pottery objects were discovered intact in the neolithic ruins at Tuanjie Vilage and Meiyan Township in Jiangsu Province and were found to bear patterns painted in lacquer after the objects had been fired. They are the earliest lacquered articles ever discovered in China and are now kept in the Museum of Nanjing.