A rare ornamental group
The ornamental vessels, consisting of a jug and six vases, were made at the Royal Porcelain Manufactory, in Sèvres, just outside Paris, between 1790 and 1791. They were painted to resemble Japanese black-ground lacquer with gold-painted scenes, the likes of which adorned wooden and bamboo screens, boxes and cabinets that were at the heart of a lucrative import market from East Asia.
The imitation of lacquer, including Belton’s exceptional group of Sèvres, is sometimes known as ‘trompe l'oeil’, or ‘trick of the eye’. Imitations like these were often made as a response to more costly luxury materials that could not be easily replicated domestically.
What is lacquer?
Derived from the sap of a tree native to East Asia, lacquer is a sticky, glossy substance that hardens to a sleek, dark finish when applied to wooden surfaces.
The finest Asian lacquer was made in Japan in the 17th century. Objects of wood or bamboo were coated in several layers of urushi (poison oak sap), drying to form a shiny finish. Iron was then added to the sap to create the black colour.
The taste for lacquer
During the 18th century, the European desire for lacquer was such that the Chinese and Japanese began making and exporting lacquered objects – including cabinets, screens, chests and other pieces of furniture – specifically to meet European demand and tastes.
Comparing the Sèvres porcelain to another object in Belton’s collection, a late 17th-century Japanese lacquer coffer, one can see the imitative strategy in effect.