What is Lacquer
Natural lacquer is a material shaped by time.
It is a sap harvested from the lacquer tree, which must grow for years before it can be tapped. The yield is scarce, and each cut is made by hand, with care for the life of the tree.
Harvesting follows a quiet balance. Only a portion of the bark is opened at a time, allowing the tree to heal and continue to grow.
Material shaped by time and care.
Lacquer work dates back thousands of years in East Asia.
Yet it remains unlike any modern material.
Through repeated applications and long periods of curing, raw lacquer transforms into a surface of remarkable strength—resistant to time, humidity, and decay.
Reimagined in jewelry and vessels, it becomes something closer—
worn on the body, or held in daily life.
Gold-Sprinkled Lacquer
Gold-sprinkled lacquer is a traditional technique that originated in ancient China.
In early practice, designs were painted in lacquer and dusted with fine metal powders—gold, silver, sometimes copper—then slowly polished by hand until the pattern emerged from within the surface.
Over time, the technique traveled and evolved across East Asia. It later became widely known in Japan, where it is referred to as Maki-e.
What defines this process is not only decoration, but integration.
Lacquer binds with metal in a way few materials can—
holding it in depth, rather than on the surface.
The result is subtle, enduring, and shaped by time.
Our Practice
At Seedton, this process is carried forward slowly.
Each layer is applied by hand.
Each surface is left to cure in its own time.
Each piece passes through many stages before it is complete.