Traditional Lacquer Craft
Grade 9 · ART · Traditional Crafts
An introduction to Sri Lanka's traditional lacquer craft, covering its history, raw materials, preparation methods, decorative techniques, and traditional lacquerware production.
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Sri Lankan lacquer work (laksha) is strongest as a craft tradition around Matale in the central hills: turned wooden objects - walking sticks, boxes, handles - built up with layers of natural lac dye applied while the piece spins on a lathe, then patterned by scraping through the layers to reveal colour underneath.
The technique is worth remembering specifically because the pattern is subtractive rather than painted on - colour is revealed, not applied - which is a genuinely different design logic from every other craft covered in this unit and a common point of comparison in exam questions about Sri Lankan traditional crafts.
