Qualla: Museum of Lacquer Art https://qualla.com/museum-of-lacquer-art en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:34 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/j/r/museum-of-lacquer-art-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Museum of Lacquer Art https://qualla.com/museum-of-lacquer-art Museum of Lacquer Art: Introduction https://qualla.com/museum-of-lacquer-art/ Photo credit Michael Schmalenstroer, CC BY-SA 4.0. Two thousand years ago, somewhere in what is now China or Korea, a woodworker tapped the bark of Toxicodendron vernicifluum and collected the milky sap that ran out. Cured in damp air, the sap hardened into a coating so durable that the objects it covered could be buried, dug up, and still gleam. The only museum in the world devoted to that craft sits in a Münster villa, owned by a paint company, holding around a thousand pieces that trace 2,000 years of human obsession with making things shine.

Read more: Museum of Lacquer Art on Qualla

Image: Michael Schmalenstroer | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/j/r/museum-of-lacquer-art-wp/u1jr-museum-of-lacquer-art-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Museum of Lacquer Art: How a Paint Company Ended Up in the Art Business https://qualla.com/museum-of-lacquer-art/ Photo credit NordhornerII, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Museum of Lacquer Art exists because two German lacquer chemists were also serious collectors. Erich Zschocke worked at the Herbig-Haarhaus paint factory in Cologne from the mid-1920s and became fascinated with the company's own products. In 1955 he founded the Herbig-Haarhau...

Read more: Museum of Lacquer Art on Qualla

Image: NordhornerII | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/j/r/museum-of-lacquer-art-wp/u1jr-museum-of-lacquer-art-how-a-paint-company-ended-up-in-the-art-business.mp3 0:06 2 full Museum of Lacquer Art: The Asian Collection https://qualla.com/museum-of-lacquer-art/ Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. The oldest objects in the museum come from China and Korea, where lacquer decoration was already a sophisticated craft in the 4th and 5th centuries BC. The galleries cover the major Chinese techniques: carved red Schnitzlack, where dozens of layers of cinnabar-pigmented lacquer a...

Read more: Museum of Lacquer Art on Qualla

Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/j/r/museum-of-lacquer-art-wp/u1jr-museum-of-lacquer-art-the-asian-collection.mp3 0:06 3 full Museum of Lacquer Art: Europe's Lacquer Detective Story https://qualla.com/museum-of-lacquer-art/ Photo credit self, CC BY 2.0 de. Asian lacquer first reached Europe in significant quantities in the late 16th century, arriving on the same Portuguese and Dutch ships that brought porcelain and spices. Demand was instant and impossible to satisfy. The sap of the Asian lacquer tree could not survive the voyage, ...

Read more: Museum of Lacquer Art on Qualla

Image: self | CC BY 2.0 de

]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/j/r/museum-of-lacquer-art-wp/u1jr-museum-of-lacquer-art-europes-lacquer-detective-story.mp3 0:06 4 full Museum of Lacquer Art: The Russian and Islamic Galleries https://qualla.com/museum-of-lacquer-art/ Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. Russian lacquer arrived late but developed in a distinctive direction. The earliest pieces in the collection date from the start of the 19th century, when Russian workshops imitated European ornamentation. From around 1850, they pivoted decisively toward Russian subjects: troika ...

Read more: Museum of Lacquer Art on Qualla

Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/j/r/museum-of-lacquer-art-wp/u1jr-museum-of-lacquer-art-the-russian-and-islamic-galleries.mp3 0:06 5 full Museum of Lacquer Art: Why It Is Worth the Detour https://qualla.com/museum-of-lacquer-art/ Photo credit Tuxyso, CC BY-SA 3.0. Lacquer is a slow art. A single object can carry dozens of layers, each of which has to harden in humid darkness for days. A complex Chinese carved piece might represent two years of cumulative work; a major Japanese maki-e cabinet might represent five or ten. The museum's argume...

Read more: Museum of Lacquer Art on Qualla

Image: Tuxyso | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/j/r/museum-of-lacquer-art-wp/u1jr-museum-of-lacquer-art-why-it-is-worth-the-detour.mp3 0:06 6 full