There are grades in lacquer. Lacquer on a gold ground is the most highly prized; and the first examples of this kind that reached Europe were gifts to Dutch officials from Japanese princes. This sort of lacquer is seldom found on furniture, with the exception of delicate little boxes and occasionally plaques that were inserted into furniture.
Lacquered wares were brought into Holland, England and France in large quantities all through the seventeenth century, as the bills of lading (see page 292) show. We have seen that the European merchants sent out designs for forms and decorations of Oriental porcelain; and they did the same for carved ebony, teak and ivory, and especially lacquer. Many of the screens, clocks, bedsteads, cabinets, panels, tables, etc., of the period show unmistakable signs of Oriental attempts to supply European demands. In textiles also, especially in screen-fillings, and other textiles used in upholstery for couches, chairs and hangings, we frequently find views of Dutch towns and social life, indoors and outdoors.
The framework of large pieces of furniture was sometimes both carved on the edges, and the flat surfaces were lacquered. Sometimes the frames of screens were of carved rosewood (home-made), and the apertures were filled with genuine Eastern textiles. Tables of inlaid ivory and mother-of-pearl were also in general vogue.
Lacquered furniture was highly prized and very costly during the days of William of Orange, our “Dutch William.” “A grand Japan cabinet” (probably a wardrobe) in the bedroom of a Countess in 1675 was valued at £200 in present money. In 1698 an “Indian trunk” is listed at £35 in money of that date. In valuations that might be perhaps multiplied fivefold to-day in actual cash, apart from appreciation in art or sentimental value, we find also: a pair of India cut Japan screens, £60; a black bureau, £6; a Japan scrutoire, £60; a Japan cabinet, £35; and India-cut Japan frame and glasses, £10 10_s._
We have seen from the complaint of the japanners in England that strong attempts had been made to imitate the home demands; and considerable success had rewarded the efforts of the artists and cabinetmakers. The trouble was that they could not obtain the proper lacquer or “vernish” in England, France or Holland for many years. The Dutch, holding such a dominant position in the East Indies, practically throughout the seventeenth century, naturally had the best chance to discover the secret of the constitution and manufacture of the far-famed varnish. They tried to reproduce the Oriental product of lacquer just as persistently as they did the porcelain with delft. Good as their imitations were, however, they could not produce a lacquer that could compete with the Japanese any more than the English could. They used native varnishes, therefore, and produced beautiful work which, alas! was not destined to last. The surface soon cracked, scaled off and left the framework decrepit and friendless,—relegated to the attic, kitchen or wood pile.