Business Insider recently released a video on India’s shellac industry with amazing footage of how it’s made. You can watch it here.
While we think of shellac as a finish, it’s also used to coat candy and pills, preserve fruit, make bangles and more. Learn how the Kerria lacca insect secretes lac and see how it’s harvested using methods that originated 3,000 years ago. Follow along as the video highlights careful steps in production and watch as workers use their hands, feet and teeth to stretch large sheets of shellac. This video packs a lot in 10 minutes and is fascinating to watch.
Enjoy!
— Kara Gebhart Uhl
Second line should read: “…lacca insects secrete lac….” My apologies for an early a.m. correction.
“Fascinating” is indeed the word – thank you so much for posting this!
Brief in passage but highly interesting was of course the short sharpening sequence prior to harvesting the tree branches with lac on them …
I had no idea!
I love this. I learned how to French Polish with shellac several years ago, and it’s a process I really love to do (though I know there is dispute about the term “French Polish,” and that it might not even refer to the process of applying shellac in this manner). While it is a somewhat fragile finish, it is so easy to fix, and so easy to build up a shine, that when I need a glossy finish, I almost always go to that technique.
This is very cool. Thank you.
fascinating! thanks for sharing. FYI i have not received any posts via email since the lap open wire may 25.
Have you received the digest post from “Lost Art Press Blog?” That’s what we’re now sending out, with several posts noted in each, a couple times a week. If you want immediate notification, an RSS feed (e.g. Feedly) is the best bet.
Thanks for the video