JAPANNING, a species of lac-varnishing, in imitation of the lacquered ware of Japan, which, with that of China, is esteemed the best in the world. The ware may be lacquered upon wood, metal, or papier-maché grounds. A description of the process as practised in China may serve to explain the sources of superiority. The article, if of wood, being made very dry, light, and smooth, is primed with a mixture of ox gall and rottenstone, which is rubbed smooth before the varnish is applied. The varnish is composed of 605 grains of gum-lac in 1200 grains of water, to which are added 38 grains of oil of Camellia sasanqua, a pig's gall, and 19 grains of rice vinegar. The ingredients are well mixed in full daylight, when the varnish gradually deepens into a brilliant black. A very thin coat of this varnish is applied with a flat hair brush. The article is left in a steamy heat, and is then rubbed down in water with very fine pumice. A second coat of lac varnish is next applied, and the polishing is repeated, which two operations are continued until a perfectly even and brilliant surface is attained, a finer quality of lac being used for the later coats, of which there are never less than three, nor more than eighteen. The object is ornamented by an artist, who draws the design in white lead, engraves it, and fills up the details. The article is next painted with the camphorated lac of Kouang-si, which serves as a basis for the gilding. It is completed by varnishing.
In our method of japanning, the wood intended for the best works is thoroughly dried, since any warping or shrinking would be fatal to the finished surface; for which purpose well seasoned wood is cut nearly into the required forms, and exposed for several days to a gradually increasing heat in the japanner's stove. The articles are then finished as to form, and are again stoved, after which the cracks are stopped with putty or white lead. For black japanned works, a ground of ivory black mixed with dark-coloured animé varnish is applied. This is dried in the stove, and coated with varnish three or four times, the work being stoved between every two coats. For coloured grounds, the varnish mixed with the proper colour is laid on in one or two coats, and the work is completed by several successive varnishings and dryings. Ordinary painters' colours ground with linseed oil or turpentine and mixed with animé varnish are employed for various black or brown surfaces with gilt edges, imitations of marble, fine-grained woods, tortoise-shell, &c. The colours mostly used are flake-white or white lead, Prussian blue, vermilion, Indian red, king's yellow, verdigris, lamp-black, and the various tints produced by their admixture. The varnishes used are copal, seed-lac, animé, and mastic. The lac varnish is the best for hardness, but its colour prevents its use for delicate grounds, so that for such purposes it is either mixed with gum varnish, or copal varnish is used instead. Copal or animé varnish made without driers is applied, in from two to six coats, after the colour has been laid on. (See VARNISH.)
Japanners sometimes use a priming of size and whitening, which is laid on with a brush, and left for a day or two to dry; it is then made smooth by rubbing with rushes and a wet cloth. When this is quite dry, the grounds are laid on, and finished by varnishing and polishing with rottenstone, or in the case of a white ground, with putty or starch, and oil. It must, however, be remarked, that a priming, or artificially prepared ground, is objectionable, the japanning being more liable to crack than when executed on the actual surface of the object itself. A gold ground is formed by varnishing the work with japanner's gold size, and when nearly dry, but still clammy, covering it with gold dust applied on a piece of wash-leather; the effect of such a ground when highly varnished is very brilliant. Japan work is ornamented with drawings or engravings on the principle of transfer, for which purpose the engraving is printed, or the drawing executed on fine paper previously prepared with a coat of isinglass or gum water. When this is dry it is placed face downwards upon the japan ground, which is covered with a thin coat of copal varnish. A sponge dipped in warm water is then applied to the back of the paper, which dissolves the isinglass, loosens the paper, and leaves the print on the work. Another method is to execute the print on an elastic composition of glue, &c., which receives the impression well, and can be laid down at once on the japanned surface. The whole of the processes require so much drying, that stoves are requisite to hasten the work.
The great demand for japanning is for works in papier-maché, to which article we must refer for further information on the subject. Common articles of furniture are sometimes said to be japanned, thereby implying that they are more durable than common painted articles. The term as thus used is, however, incorrect, since the colours employed on such common works are only mixed with turpentine instead of oil.
For japanning works in metal, they are cleaned with turpentine to get rid of grease or oil, unless the oil should be linseed, in which case the articles are stoved until the oil becomes quite hard. Japanning is then performed in the usual manner. See LAC, LACQUER. (C. T.)