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How a Traditional Korean Inlaid Lacquer Box is Made

But how the heck did they develop these techniques?

By Rain Noe - January 13, 2016

in Object Culture

For those of us who are beginner or even intermediate level woodworkers, making a delicate box with a perfect finish is hard enough. Imagine that you get all of that done, and then the real work starts.

If you've ever been to Korea, you may have seen some of these lacquered boxes inlaid with what looks like pearl or shells:

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In fact they're shells, and while a purist might say the techniques used to get them in there aren't proper inlay, well, watch this guy (master craftsman Lee Kwang-Woong) make one and see if you'd find it any less difficult:

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"I was about to ask how much one of these boxes go for," writes one commenter on the YouTube page, "but then I saw it takes one year to make one of them so I think I'm better off not knowing."

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7 years ago

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the process is satisfyinh

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Juan Cano

8 years ago

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Fantastic dedication to a craft. Did you notice how he puts the hot iron near his face to gauge how hot it is? He dips it in cold water then holds it next to his mouth/cheek.

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