Mother-of-Pearl ( Inlay with unique design shell on crafts )

Mother-of-Pearl
( Inlay with unique design shell on crafts )

The inlaid and lacquered mother-of-pearl on decorative objects and wooden furniture, called ‘na-cheon-chil-ki’, mother-of-pearl lacquer ware, is so delightful that mother-of-pearl furniture has been treasured in the living quarters of Korean house.
To render the mother-of-pearl usable, the rough outer layer of the shellfish is filed away on a grindstone or dissolved by exposure to acid to bring out the iridescence. This polished and flattened nacre is shaped with scissors, fret saw, knife, chisel or hammer, in accordance with the design the artisan has planned.
At now, almost Korea craftsman use the machine with diamond-line.
Each piece is superposed on a flat surface or inserted into grooves, tempered and smoothed to make the inlaid pieces even with the surface, and covered with natural lacquer.

The lacquer can be painted on objects of wood, metal, single-fired pottery, tile and leather. The lacquering methods vary by the base material and by the use of the objects.
The most popular material is definitely wood. Lacquer can be applied to diverse wooden objects, regardless of their size or use, because wood allows fast and fine absorption of lacquer.
The color of mother-of-pearl varies. The Koryo Dynasty’s ( 918 - 1392 ) mother-of-pearl, mostly taken from abalone, projects a subtle rainbow hue in which blue is dominant. It is not clear how the polishing process was carried out, but the shaping was done with scissors or fret saw.

Sometimes a twisted thin bronze wire was inserted together with the mother-of-pearl to render the vignette pattern, or polished and colored tortoise shell and
ox horn were intermixed with it.

The twisted bronze wire was replaced by sliced mother-of-pearl thread in the mid Choson Dynasty, and the use of tortoiseshell gradually died out.
From the Koryo-Dynasty to the mid Choson Dynasty, arabesque like variations of floral patterns were favored, including intricate symmetrical designs of vignette, peonies, chrysanthemums, lotuses, and varied plants. They were mostly small, which allowed easy inlaying without much risk of breaking the pieces of mother-of-pearl.