This fixed fan (pien-mien in Chinese) is a superb example of carved cinnabar lacquer and dates from the mid-to-late Eighteenth Century. Look closely at the screen and you’ll notice several figures including scholarly gentlemen set within a highly detailed landscape. Owing to the fine quality of the work, we can assume this fan was made in the imperial lacquer workshops set up in the Forbidden City, Beijing. Lacquer is the resin of a family of trees found throughout southern China. The powdered mineral cinnabar was added to the lacquer to achieve the distinctive red colour associated with this type of work. In the carved-lacquer technique the design is cut with a knife through up to 200 layers of lacquer thickly built up around a wooden core. The process of layering the lacquer is time consuming, up to six months, as each layer must completely dry before the next is applied.
• To learn more from the Curator about the Chinese ceremonial fan, press A.• To learn more about the Sri-Lanken sesath, press B.