Hand-Painted Traditional Chinese Parasol

Description

Spread open, it throws a wash of color across any surface beneath it — pigment over paper stretched taut on a skeleton of fine bamboo ribs, each joint wrapped and lacquered by hand.

The oil-paper parasol has been made in Sichuan province, particularly in the city of Luzhou, for over a thousand years. The craft combines oiled mulberry paper with hand-painted decoration, and it remains a living artisan tradition: workshops in Luzhou still produce parasols using techniques that have changed little since the Song dynasty, with each stage of the work — splitting bamboo, mounting paper, painting motifs, varnishing — carried out by a different specialist.

The canopy is made from oiled paper or treated fabric stretched over a frame of split and shaped bamboo. Decoration is applied by hand using fine brushes; motifs typically draw on traditional Chinese botanical and figurative imagery — peonies, birds, clouds, geometric borders. The handle is turned bamboo or wood. The ribs fold flat when closed and snap open to hold the canopy in shape.

Material: oiled paper or treated fabric canopy, bamboo frame, bamboo or wood handle. Dimensions are listed in the product details. Intended for light decorative or occasional use in dry conditions. Avoid rain and prolonged exposure to direct sun, which will cause the pigments to fade and the paper to deteriorate.

Each parasol is hand-painted and will differ slightly from others produced in the same pattern. It is suitable for display or as a light-use accessory.