Table 1 Summary of the available information about the materials and manufacturing process of Burmese lacquered objects decorated with the yun technique according to written sources [1, 4,5,6]

Ground layer

tha-yo (Burney)

thayo (Fraser-Lu)

thayo (Isaac/Blurton)

thayoe (Than Htun)

p. 169: lacquer of lower quality with 50% water added

+ Filler

Ash of cow bone

Or ash of bran/husk of paddy (“most commonly used”)

Or ash of teak wood + spittle (“thick consistency, produces hard fill”)

Or ash of cow-dung (“adheres tenaciously, very pliable and elastic”)

p. 24–25: lacquer

+ Filler

clay (“1st coating”)

Or teak ash & glue from boiled rice (“2nd coating”)

Or cow dung ash + rice straw ash (“2nd coating, for finest work”)

Or powdered bone (2nd coating, for finest work”)

p. 34: lacquer

+ Filler

Ash (e.g. of cow bones)

Or clay

p. 32: lacquer

+ Filler

Cow dung (“year-old dung, cleaned (…) ground to obtain a pure powder, extremely sticky and strong, for 1st class ware”

or river Sediments + red earth (“for 2nd class ware”)

Or ash of groundnut hulls + dried straw (“used nowadays”)

Or sawdust

Finishing layer for plain black wares

theet-tsee (Burney)

thit-si (Fraser-Lu)

thit si (Isaac/Blurton)

sitse (Than Htun)

p. 169: lacquer of highest quality

Note: applied in three or more coats before further decoration is applied

p. 25: lacquer of good quality

p. 35: lacquer

p. 32: lacquer

Red

Cinnabar/vermillion

hen-za-pa-da (Burney)

hin-thabada (Fraser-Lu)

hinthabada (Isaac/Blurton)

hinthapada (Than Htun)

red ochre:

myè-nee (Burney)

mye-ni (Fraser-Lu)

n/a (Isaac/Blurton)

myeni (Than Htun)

p. 171: vermillion (“from China, of the finest kind, does not mix well with lacquer”)

Or self-made vermillion (made by small number of local craftsmen, “preferred by the Burmese”)

Or red ochre (“Indian red”) (“gives a duller colour”, for cheaper ware, sometimes used as a 1st coat, over which vermillion is applied”)

+ Binder

Tung oil + lacquer (3:10) (“semi-transparent varnish”)

p. 171: (tung) oil (Shan-zee or Shan oil) from fruit of the kuniyen tree (Dipterocarpus turbinatus) (“from Laos, long drying time”)

+ p. 169: lacquer of slightly lesser quality with 25% water added

p. 25: vermillion/cinnabar (mercuric sulfide) (“imported from China”)

Or red ochre (“cheaper, for inferior wares”)

+ Binder

Lacquer + tung oil (shan-zi) from tree fruit of Aleurites triloba or Dipterocarpus turbinatus

+ Unspecified “special” additives

+ Barrier layer

p. 34: resin of neem (tama) tree (Azadirachta indica)

Or resin of acacia tree (Acacia farnesiana) (“glue (…) to seal the red colour within the engraved lines”)

p. 35–36: cinnabar (mercuric sulfide)

Or red ochre (more recently)

Or red paint (more recently)

+ Binder

Water + peanut oil + lacquer

+ Barrier layer

p. 37, 40: resin of acacia tree (htanaung) + water (= “gum Arabic”)

p. 29: mercuric sulfide

+ Binder

Peanut oil (Pyu period to 1700 and 1700 to 1900)

Or sesame oil (1900 to 1930)

(No lacquer mentioned)

+ Barrier layer

p. 28, 30: resin of acacia tree (htanaung, Acacia leucophloea) or resin of neem tree (= tamar tree)

Blue

n/a (Burney)

me-ne (Fraser-Lu)

n/a (Isaac/Blurton)

mene (Than Htun)

(No blue colourant mentioned)

p. 26: indigo (Indigofera anil.)

(“Rarely used in traditional Burmese lacquer work, for the indigo does not combine well with the (…) raw lacquer, resulting in a rather dull finish”)

+ binder (no binder specified)

(No blue colourant mentioned)

p. 29: Indigo

And/or madama bark

Or blue paint (more recently)

Or dye powder (more recently)

+ Binder (no binder specified)

+ Barrier layer

Resin of acacia tree (htanaung, Acacia leucophloea)

Green

atsein (Burney)

n/a (Fraser-Lu)

n/a (Isaac/Blurton)

n/a (Than Htun)

p. 174: indigo + orpiment (1:10)

Or juice from leaf of plant called gwe-douk-beng + orpiment

+ Binder

Lacquer + tung oil (Shan-zee)

p. 27: indigo + orpiment (1:10)

Or p. 40: enamel paint (from late 80 s)

+ Binder (no binder specified)

p. 40: indigo + orpiment

Or mass-produced chemical colour

Or house paint (1980s)

+ Binder

p. 37: lacquer

p. 29: green (“minor colour, used since the 1850s”)

Or hinthapada + blue mene (so called England green powder) (from 1900 to 1930)

+ Binder (No binder specified)

+ Barrier layer

Resin of acacia tree (htanaung, Acacia leucophloea)

Yellow/orange

orpiment

tshè-dan (Burney)

sei-dan (Fraser-Lu)

n/a (Isaac/Blurton)

saydan (Than Htun)

p. 174: orpiment (yellow sulfuret of arsenic)

+ Binder

lacquer + tung oil (Shan-zee)

+ Barrier layer

(no barrier layer mentioned)

Yellow

p. 26: orpiment (arsenic trisulfide) (from Shan States)

Orange

p. 26: orpiment + vermillion

+ Binder

Gum of dammar

Or lacquer + tung oil (shan-zi)

p. 27: orpiment (arsenic trisulfide)

+ Binder

Lacquer (applied after barrier layer and engraving)

+ Barrier layer

Acacia tree glue (applied before engraving)

Yellow

p. 29: orpiment (arsenic trisulfide) (1900 to 1930)

Orange

cinnabar + orpiment

+ Binder (no binder specified)

+ Barrier layer

Resin of acacia tree (htanaung, Acacia leucophloea)

Final coating

Not specified

p. 34: lacquer + a little tung oil

None mentioned

p. 33: lacquer + tung oil (1:3) (+ sesame oil) (in Bagan and Shan States (Laikha), between 1850s–1930s, rarely used after WWII due to being expensive)