Hsinchu County-based seashell inlay worker Chen Fu-chiang (陳甫強), who immigrated from Hong Kong with his father in 1954, said he witnessed the glory days of Taiwan’s inlay export industry, which he now fears might vanish.
Known as luodian (螺鈿), the traditional art of inlaying shells in wood or lacquer is estimated to be 3,000 years old and its etymology is unclear, Chen said.
While luo clearly refers to the shells, dian could mean either golden-and-silver honeysuckle or the act of inlaying.
Modern inlayers in Japan and South Korea use laser cutters to shape the shells before reassembling them into a design, while the traditional technique used in Taiwan relies on handwork for cutting, grinding and polishing the material, he said.
The traditional technique is called “thick” shell inlay after the thickness of the resulting pieces and it is typically used to decorate high-end furniture, Chen said.
He was inducted into the trade in 1967 so that he could help his father, a master carver, with a contract to create several objects for Taipei’s Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, he said, adding that he developed a fondness for shell inlays at the time.
His father’s technique, exemplified by the mother-of-pearl inlays on the screens of the hall’s Round Chamber, utilized the gradients of white in the material to achieve an effect similar to “broken ink” brush paintings, he said.
His own style, which he developed after returning from military service, makes use of power tools and colorful seashells to create designs that evoke “meticulous” brush paintings, Chen said.
Hsinchu County is the last place in Taiwan where shell inlay workers use traditional methods and he has been running a tuition-free school to pass on the skill, he said.
About 100 students have attended the school, but most have only been curious and not become professionals, Chen said, adding that mastering the trade requires many years of apprenticeship.
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