An exhibition of ancient lacquerware currently underway at the Suzhou Museum in Jiangsu province highlights the extensive cultural exchanges that have shaped East Asian art over millennia. Among the featured items is a black lacquer incense stand, crafted in Japan during the Edo period (17th–19th centuries). It is intricately decorated with carved motifs and mother-of-pearl inlaid with a poem traditionally attributed to the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai (701–762). The poem, along with an accompanying pictorial scene on the tabletop, appears to draw from the Tangshi Huapu, an illustrated anthology of Tang poetry printed in China during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). The exhibition’s curator notes that while the patron who commissioned the piece likely worked from a Japanese transmission of the Ming edition, there was an attribution error identified in the poem’s authorship. Nevertheless, the piece underscores Japan’s historical appreciation for Chinese literature and lacquer art.

The exhibition also features a red lacquer tray authenticated as an original Tang Dynasty artifact, believed to have been transmitted from China to Japan. This designation, confirmed through expert appraisal in Japan, highlights the high value placed on Chinese lacquerware in Japanese collections. Lacquer techniques were introduced from China to Japan in the early centuries of the common era and fully assimilated during the Asuka and Nara periods (6th–8th centuries), paralleling the Tang Dynasty timeline. This artistic exchange was part of a broader transmission of cultural practices, including Buddhism and tea ceremony traditions, linking the spiritual and aesthetic heritages of both countries.

One notable exhibit is a black lacquer tea bowl featuring thin, shimmering gold lines that evoke the Song Dynasty’s “hare’s-fur” style porcelain. This reflects the adoption and reinterpretation of Chinese ceramic aesthetics within lacquer art. Scholars note that during the Tang and Song periods, monks from Japan and Korea traveled to China to study Buddhism, as well as related literary and artistic disciplines, fostering a continuity of cultural influence.

Japanese lacquer artisans transformed their inherited techniques through innovations such as maki-e, where gold or silver powder is sprinkled onto wet lacquer and sealed under multiple layers, creating a surface that modulates light with great subtlety. The use of mother-of-pearl inlay, enhanced by Japan’s access to marine resources, provides a contrasting iridescence. These refinements culminated in the Edo period, a time when Japanese lacquer art’s influence extended beyond East Asia, impacting European tastes and eventually flowing back to China during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911).

The exhibition includes Qing imperial lacquer pieces that bear clear Japanese stylistic influences, such as a lacquer fan, a rectangular box, and a floral-decorated teapot. These items illustrate the reciprocal exchange of lacquer art techniques between China and Japan. Additionally, the Qing court’s use of lacquerware featured prominently in diplomatic gift-giving, including during the 1793 Macartney Embassy from Britain. Though the embassy did not achieve its trade aims, these lacquer objects symbolized refined craftsmanship amid shifting geopolitical dynamics that would eventually lead to conflict and the opening of China’s ports through unequal treaties.

Through objects that are simultaneously utilitarian and ornamental, the exhibition traces a rich history of craftsmanship and cultural interaction. Lacquerware emerges as a medium that not only preserves artistic traditions but also reflects broader historical shifts in East Asia and beyond.