Methods and Materials for Filling Losses on Lacquer Objects

Abstract

Whether the infilling of losses on lacquer is done for purely structural or aesthetic reasons, appropriate methods and materials vary widely. Because the materials of lacquer itself differ from East to West, the article is divided into two parts: fills for Asian lacquer and fills for Western lacquer.

Over the past few centuries many materials have been used to fill losses in lacquer: Asian lacquer, wax, polyester, poly (vinyl acetate), epoxy, gesso, acrylic paints, acrylic resins, formulations of synthetic polymers such as Polycite, as well as the traditional materials of shellac and other natural resins. The benefits and disadvantages of each are outlined. Bibliographic references from numerous publications on the subject have been collected for this article.