Research on Materials and Manufacturing Process Used for the Imperial Inlaid Jade Lacquered Wooden Coffin from the Royal Mausoleum No.2 of the Vassal King of Jiangdu State of the Western Han Dynasty in China

Summary

The paper focuses on the characterization of material from fragmented pieces of the imperial lacquered wooden coffin excavated in Xuyi County, Jiangsu Province，whose owner was the empress of Jiangdu State in Western Han Dynasty. The samples were analyzed by scientific techniques including optical and electron microscopy, XRD, FT-IR and GS-MS. The laquer film outside consists of a seven-layer structure, which includes (from the top): a red pigmented layer, two laquer finish layers, three ground layers and a canvas foundation layer. The red motifs on the surface are painted by cinnabar. The lacquer finish layers are made of urushi and amorphous. The three layers of ground are feldspars , hydroxyapatite and feldspars mixed with urushi respectively and there is a layer of organics between every two of them. The foundation layer is identified as a plain weave fabric made of bast fibres. Our study revealed the manufacturing process of Chinese traditional lacquering of Vassal King in Western Han Dynasty.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21184