Why interior designers love lacquer pieces and how to use them in an interior

‘I was amazed when I first discovered lacquer in 1999 whilst travelling in Burma (Myanmar),’ says James Lowther. ‘I bought a 100-year-old betel box from a shopkeeper, who revealed a treasure trove of antique lacquer pieces hidden away in the back of his store. It’s still one of my favourite items to this day.’ James went on to found The Lacquer Company a decade later, and it has become an extraordinarily successful venture, in which he frequently collaborates with the world’s best interior designers to produce elegant new pieces.

Lacquer is an ancient East Asian craft, with thousands of years of history behind it. It involves using the sap of a lacquer tree to form a hard, glossy surface, and is an extremely labour-intensive process. James’ search for the finest craftsmen took him to Saigon, Vietnam, where he began producing lacquer in the traditional Vietnamese style, known as Son Mai. ‘The process requires an enormous amount of patience, skill and attention to detail, from hand applying each layer and letting it dry naturally, to wet sanding and polishing to perfection, it’s a very complex process.’

The bright colours and glossy finish of lacquer furniture makes it immensely appealing for an interior design scheme. Veere Grenney, who has just brought out a range of updates to his ‘Gazebo’ collection for The Lacquer Company, notes that ‘whether it is used on walls, ceilings, floors or furniture, a high-gloss lacquer creates a surface of extraordinary clarity and depth of colour. It brings with it a certain crispness, it is clean-lined and immaculate yet never sterile.’

‘For such an ancient craft, lacquer is incredibly easy to use and sits brilliantly in both traditional and modern interiors,” agrees James. “I like to pair lacquer with wood and antique pieces to create a layered look.’ The contrast lacquer offers with different kinds of surface is appealing across the board. Luke Edward Hall explains the he loves the ‘high shine of lacquer, and the way it bounces light around a room. It is also possible to achieve very intense colours. For good contrast, I love mixing lacquer pieces with objects and furniture made from very different materials – faded, painted wood, say.’

The ‘Felix’ side table in Duncan Campbell and Luke Edward Hall’s Cotswold cottage

The ‘Benedict’ coffee table in Duncan Campbell and Luke Edward Hall’s Cotswold cottage

The reflective qualities of lacquer are also an interesting thing to incorporate into a decoration scheme. Duncan Campbell explains that in his interior design work with Campbell-Rey, ‘we spend a lot of time refining finishes and there’s something incredibly satisfying about the way a hand-polished lacquer surface reflects light and brings freshness to an interior when used in conjunction with antiques of different styles and periods.’ American interior designer Miles Redd, who has also designed for The Lacquer Company, agrees. ‘I am a magpie, so any reflective surface will titillate, and indeed it is all about lacquer’s reflection – especially in the rich dark colours that I particularly love. They just give life and modernity to a traditional space.’