Floral Lacquered Mango Wood Boxes (Pair), "Violets"

Carving mango wood into spheres, Nantana Sompamitre creates a pair of delightful boxes. A violet motif adorns their smooth, lacquered surfaces. Sompamitre carves the desired shape and coats it with lacquer. Once dried it is polished, and another coat is applied – up to twenty times – before as many six coats of pure lacquer are present. The final layer is polished with powdered fired clay. Then the motifs are etched with a technique called lai kad (dug-out pattern) and painted.