Antiques & Collecting: Korean lacquerware

The art of adding mother-of-pearl inlay to lacquerware has been practiced in Korea for more than a thousand years.

The Korean term for it is Najeonchilgi, from the words najeon, meaning mother-of-pearl, and chilgi, lacquer. It is a lengthy process that requires skill and patience the artisan builds through years of training.

The artisan must prepare the mother-of-pearl shells, cut them into delicate slices or intricate shapes, add lacquer to the object to be decorated, apply the shells, add more coats of lacquer and finally sand and polish the object.

Even today, artisans prefer using traditional materials and methods that have been handed down over generations.

Najeonchilgi has lost popularity since the 1970s, but some artisans continue to practice it and make works of art or luxury goods on commission. Older pieces are sought as antiques.

Auction house Nye & Company described this Najeonchilgi chest as an Emperor chest and sold it for $2,048.

We had a 4 1/2-inch vase in our home when I was a child; I am 82. It is light blue with raised figures in white. There is a woman with two angels and a lot of scrolls and flowers. It looks like Wedgwood to me, but there are no marks on the bottom except the numbers “3200.” I would be thrilled to know if it is really Wedgwood and how old it is.

Your vase sounds like Jasperware, a type of nonporous pottery with a solid background and raised decorations in a contrasting color.

It was invented by Wedgwood and is still one of their most famous products, but it became so popular that it has been made by many other factories around the world.

Wedgwood pieces are almost always marked. If your vase is not marked, it sounds like it is probably a copy made by a giftware company in the 20th century. The number on the bottom may be a mold number or inventory number.

For more information about Wedgwood Jasperware and to help identify pieces, check your library for books like “Wedgwood Jasper Ware: A Shape Book and Collectors Guide” by Michael Herman or “Wedgwood Jasper” by Robin Reilly.

Tip: Mother-of-pearl for inlays can be bought at a guitar factory. You may have to sand the back to make the inlay thinner.

Current Prices

Basket, Iroquois, staves, potato stamped, alternating green leaves and red medallions, round lip, square base, 12 x 12 inches, $90.

Pottery-midcentury, vase, squat, mottled brown glaze, repeating stylized starbursts, shoulders, flared lip, signed, F. Carlton Ball, 4 inches, $345.

Bank, mechanical, owl, glass eyes, turns head, J.&E. Stevens & Co., c. 1880, 7 1/2 inches, $405.

Textile, flag, American, 46 stars, Grand Army of the Republic, gilt and black lettering, In Memoriam Bosworth Post No. 2 G.A.R., Portland, Maine, c. 1909, 29 x 44 inches, $630.

Advertising, sign, Sherwin Williams Paints, Cover The Earth, paint can pouring over globe, yellow can, red paint, green globe, porcelain, 42 x 23 1/2 inches, $1,440.